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AUTHOR: 


MOSS,  ARTHUR 


TITLE: 


BLE  AND  EVOLUTION 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DA  TE : 


[PREF.  18901 


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Junpmii  imiiininii 


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f^Fwrn 


::!W'w'xmmmmmmmmmm'm 


;2ii.oi 


us  5  5 


iiiOGC  f   Arthur  B 


1855- 


The  Bible   and  evolution,   by  Arthur  B.  IIocg. 
With  prGfaco  by  II .   J.   Il-rdraclre  *  .  .       London, 

19   en. 


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WEBSTER,  NEW  YORK  14580 

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LIBRARY 


»*!• 


I  If 


l/H 


I 


THE 


BIBLE  AND  EVOLUTION, 


BY 


ARTHUR   B.  MOSS. 


n 


VM  Pre/ace  by  U.  J.  Hardwicke,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S. 


LONDON : 
WATTS  &  CO.,  17,  JOHNSON'S  COURT,  E.C. 


■n 


'( 


4- 


PREFACE. 


t 


With  great  pleasure  I  respond  to  the  request  made  to 
me  by  the  author  of  "  The  Bible  and  Evolution  "  to  add 
a  few  lines  as  a  preface  to  his  work,  the  sentiments  ex- 
pressed in  which  so  much  accord  with  my  own  views  • 
but  I  regret  that  pressure  of  professional  and  other  en- 
gagements will  prevent  my  writing  at  any  length. 

It  has  often  struck  me  with  surprise  that  so  many  intel- 
ligent and  educated  people  still  cling  to  the  old  myths 
and  superstitions  of  the  past,  when  reason  and  common 
sense  so  clearly  proclaim  them  to  be  utterly  unworthy 
of  acceptance.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  large  proportion 
of  the  people  of  Europe  still  profess  to  believe  the  fables 
of  the  Creation,  Fall,  and  Redemption,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  science  and  reason  both  declare  them  to 
have  been  impossible  as  historic  occurrences.  Moreover, 
the  fables  relating  to  the  Fall  and  Redemption  are, 
according  to  all  recognised  standards  of  morality,  repul- 
sive in  the  extreme,  and  opposed  to  all  civilised  ideas  of 
justice,  decency,  and  propriety.  The  original  deity  of  this 
superstition,  whose  name,  consisting  of  the  four  Hebrew 
consonants,  mrr,  is  variously  pronounced — Jehovah 
and  Javeh  by  English  Christians,  Yahwah  by  German 


.\ 


0 


PREFACE. 


7 


scholars,  Yahouh  and  Yahue  by  Orientals,  and  Yahouhah, 
with  a  guttural  middle  syllable,  by  the  Jews— is  a  very 
monster  of  cruelty  and  duplicity,  as  shown  by  the  older 
portions  of  the  Bible  ;  while  the  god-man  of  the  New 
Testament  is  described  as  a  being  sadly  deficient  in  in- 
tellect and  knowledge,  and  childish,  petulant,  and  morose. 
Christians,  if  they  think  about  the  matter  at  all,  must  be 
indeed  wanting   in    humour   not   to  be  struck   by  the 
absurdity  of  the  whole  scheme  of  what  they  call  salva- 
tion.    The  fact  is,  however,  that  very  few  indeed  ever 
trouble  themselves  about  whether  there  is  any  truth  in 
the  Bible  story,  or  any  reason  in  the  Christian  faith, 
being  quite  satisfied  to  jog  along  in  the  old  faith  of  their 
fathers.     The  Christian  religion,  they  declare,  was  good 
enough  for  their  ancestors,  and  therefore  ought  to  be 
good  enough  for  them,  little  considering  the  awkward 
admission  involved  in  the  statement.     They  quite  lose 
sight  of  the  fact  that  it  was  a  pure  matter  of  chance  that 
they   were   born   in   Christian    England  instead   of   in 
Mohammedan  Turkey.     According  to  their  argument, 
they   are   guilty    of    great   wickedness   in   contributing 
towards  the  expense  of  sending  out  missionaries  to  try 
to  convert  foreigners  from  the  faith  of  their  fathers.     It 
must  be  as  right  for  a  Turk  to  embrace  the  religion  of 
Mohammed,  for  a  Hindoo  to  embrace  Brahmanism,  a 
Chinese  Fohism  or  Confucianism,  a  Parsee  Zoroastrian- 
ism,  a  Thibetian  Buddhism,  and  an  African  Fetishism, 
as   for   a    European    to   embrace   Christianism.      This 
appears  to  me  to  be  as  clear  as  the  sun  on  a  bright  day ; 
but  in  vain  may  one  try  to  make  the  point  manifest  to 
Christians,  who  appear  to   "  admire  the  more  the  less 
they  understand,"  as  "Saint"  Gregory  Nazianzen  declared 


-h 


PREFACE.  5 

of  the  Christians  of  his  day,  after  stating  that  "words 
are  sufficient  to  deceive  the  vulgar."  "  There  are  none 
so  blind  as  those  who  will  not  see  " — a  fact  well  known  to 
Eusebius,  "  the  great  falsifier  of  ecclesiastical  history,"* 
who  declared,  in  the  thirty-first  chapter  of  his  "  Evan- 
gelical Preparation,"  that  "it  may  be  lawful  and  fitting 
to  use  falsehood  as  a  medicine  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  want  to  be  deceived." 

Another  argument  sometimes  adopted  by  Christians 
is  that,  no  matter  whether  Christianity  is  based  upon 
historic  facts  or  upon  myth,  there  can  be  no  question 
whatever  that  those  countries  which  profess  that  faith 
have  the  highest  morality.  This,  prima  fade,  would 
appear  to  be  a  strong  point ;  but,  when  submitted  to 
careful  criticism,  the  argument  will  be  found  to  bear 
quite  a  different  complexion  to  what  appears  on  the  sur- 
face. Russia  and  Spain  cannot  be  said  to  be  highly 
moral  countries,  whose  people  are  more  highly  civilised 
and  enjoy  greater  liberty  and  happiness  than  those  of 
other  countries  ;  and  yet  these  are  the  very  lands  where 
the  two  original  branches  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
most  faithfully  nurtured.  The  fact  is,  that  the  most 
moral  and  prosperous  communities  are  those  which, 
while  retaining  the  name  of  Christian,  have  bit  by  bit 
cast  off  Christianity  and  adopted  in  place  of  it  nineteenth- 
century  morality,  a  code  of  ethics  based  on  experience 
and  reason,  which  has  rendered  them  moral,  happy, 
cleanly,  healthy,  and  free.  The  people  of  those  coun- 
tries where  the  Christian  religion  is  professed  with  zeal 


*  So  branded  by  Cardinal  Baronius,  a  sincere  Christian  advocate 
of  the  sixteenth  century. 


6  PREFACE. 

and  fidelity,  according  to  divine  mandate,  are  ignorant 
dirty,  immoral,  wretched,  and  in  semi-slavery,  as  every- 
one knows  who  has  travelled  in  Spain  and  Italy. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  give  the  name  of  Christianity  to  the 
Western  morality  of  this  century ;  but  there  is  as  much 
difference  between  the  morality  of  to-day  and  the  genuine 
Christian  religion  as  there  is  between  the  north  and 
south  poles.  The  two  are  the  exact  antitheses  of  each 
other.  A  moral  condition  that  requires  that  all  men 
shall  be  equal  before  the  law,  that  no  man  shall  be 
the  property  of  his  fellow,  and  that  no  man  shall  have 
more  than  one  wife  at  a  time,  can  have  no  connection 
whatever  with  the  Christian  religion,  the  sacred  book  of 
which  teaches  us  to  burn  witches  alive,  to  buy  and  sell 
slaves,  to  desert  our  father,  mother,  brethren,  and 
children  in  order  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  believers,  and 
to  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  besides  encouraging 
polygamy,  adultery,  murder,  theft,  and  personal  assaults. 
There  is  no  use  in  Christians  saying  that  these  immorali- 
ties, although  found  in  the  Bible,  have  no  influence  on 
believers  of  the  present  day,  who  act  up  to  as  high  a 
standard  of  morality  as  is  at  present  attainable.  The 
fact  remains  that  the  Bible  distinctly  teaches  such  abomi- 
nations, and  that  the  Bible  God  distinctly  orders  and 
encourages  them.  If  Christians  do  not  carry  out  the 
orders  of  their  God  by  buying  and  selling  slaves,  etc., 
they  do  not  faithfully  obey  the  teaching  of  their  religion, 
and  are,  consequently,  not  good  Christians. 

In  Protestant  Europe,  Canada,  and  the  United  States 
the  whole  Mosaic  cosmogony,  with  its  flat  earth  theory, 
creation  of  man,  etc.,  as  taught  in  Genesis,  has  been 
destroyed  by  Copernicus,  Newton,  Laplace,  and  Darwin  ; 


n 


+ 


1' 


PREFACE.  7 

slavery  has  been  abolished  ;  witches  are  no  longer  burnt 
at  the  stake;  polygamy  is  discontinued;  and  human 
sacrifice,  adultery,  murder,  rapine,  theft,  and  personal 
assaults  are  no  longer  justified.  Hence  the  people  of 
these  countries  ought  not  to  be  called  Christians,  but 
Sceptics.  Why  they  persist  in  calling  themselves  Chris- 
tians, when  they  openly  disavow  the  Bible  teaching,  is, 
like  "the  peace  of  God,"  that  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing ;  and  why  they  hold  so  fast  to  that  mathema- 
tical absurdity,  the  Trinity-in-unity,  and  that  most  stupid 
and  imbecile  fiction  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Ascension, 
is,  like  the  three  persons  who  are  equal  and  unequal  at 
the  same  time,  incomprehensible. 

In  conclusion,  there  are  three  excellent  reasons  why 
Agnostics  and  other  liberal  thinkers  ought  to  consider  it 
their  bounden  duty  to  be  continually  attacking  Chris- 
tianity—of course,  in  a  proper  and  legitimate  manner. 
The  first  is  because  they  believe  the  whole  story  of  the 
Creation,  Fall,  and  Redemption  to  be  historically  untrue, 
and  cannot  recognise  the  ultimate  good  that  will  accrue 
to  the  race  from  the  propagation  of  an  untruth.  The 
second  is  because  they  consider  it  demoralising  to  teach 
the  young  to  do  good  in  hope  of  reward,  and  to  avoid 
doing  evil  from  fear  of  consequences.  The  third  is 
because  the  religion  is  a  persecuting  one,  and  is  used  as 
a  weapon  by  which  unbelieving  citizens  may  be  deprived 
of  their  just  rights  and  subjected  to  outrage. 

Herbert  Junius  Hardwicke. 

Sheffield^  March  loth,  i8go. 


♦'1 


> 


THE  BIBLE  AND  EVOLUTION. 


CHAPTER    I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  Bible,  Divine  or  Human  ? — Its  Inconsistency  with 
Modern  Science —  The  Creation  Story  of  Genesis 
Suvuiiarised — Similar  Legends  Occur  in  other  Sacred 
Literature. 

Numerous  as  are  the  views  which  the  human  mind  is 
capable  of  forming  in  reference  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  Bible,  only  two  rational  theories  can  be  advanced  in 
respect  to  the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  various  literary 
fragments  of  which  it  is  composed. 

Put  into  the  briefest  form,  the  first  of  these  theories  is 
that  the  Bible  is  the  very  word  of  God,  the  infinite  ruler 
of  the  universe,  who,  in  order  to  declare  his  will  to 
mankind,  and  to  reveal  certain  facts  in  regard  to  their 
origin  and  destiny  which,  it  is  alleged,  it  was  quite  im- 
possible for  them  to  acquire  by  their  own  unaided  efforts, 
employed  certain  wise  men  as  his  amanuenses,  and  in- 
spired them  to  record  with  unerring  accuracy  all  that  he 
considered  necessary  for  human  welfare  in  this  world 
and  for  salvation  in  the  next. 


lO 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


The  second  theory  is  that  the  various  literary  fragments 
which  the  Bible  comprises  were  written  by  human  and 
fallible  authors,  the  greater  number  of  whom  are  un- 
known, and  that  it  expressed  their  views  on  the  origin  of 
the  world  ;  the  creation  of  man,  and  his  history  and 
development  during  barbaric  ages  ;  the  laws  which  they 
believed  God  had  framed  for  the  Jewish  nation;  the 
progress  and  vicissitudes  of  the  chosen  people  ;  and  the 
gospel  which  they  supposed  God  had  revealed  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind  in  general. 

Of  these  theories  the  former  has  been  considerably 
shaken,  if  not  proved  entirely  untenable,  in  recent  years, 
not  only  by  the  labours  of  secular  critics,  and  the  results 
of  the  researches  of  men  of  science,  but  by  the  fact  that 
the  alleged  inspired  record  has  been  subjected  to  many 
searching  revisions  at  the  hands  of  the  learned  among 
the  clergy  themselves.     It  is  obvious  that,  even  if   this 
divine  revelation  were  originally  pure,  it  was  a  revelation 
only  to  those  who  first  received  it.     It  could  not  but 
lose  much  of  its  perfection  in  the  course  of  translation, 
and  those  who  believed  in  it  during  the  long  period 
previous  to  its  revision  believed  in  a  revelation  that  was 
so  imperfect  that  thousands  of   alterations  have   been 
found  necessary ;  and  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the 
record,    even   in    its    revised   condition,    still   contains 
numerous  errors.     But,  on  the  supposition  that  it  is  a 
divinely-inspired  production,  there  is  no  denying  that  it 
should  be  regarded  as  true  in  all  its  parts ;  for  once  to 
call  in  question,  even  in  the  smallest  degree,  any  of  its 
statements,    is    unquestionably    to   display   a   spirit   of 
scepticism,  which,  pursued  to  its  logical  end,  would  land 
the   inquirer   in   the   position  of   the  Rationalist,  who 
accepts  only  such  portions  of  it  as  appear  to  harmonise 
with  reason,  common  sense,  and  humanity.     Regarding 
the  Bible,  then,  in  the  light  of  an  inspired  book,  we 
find  ourselves  compelled  either  to  repudiate  altogether 


INTRODUCTION. 


II 


the  plainest  teachings  of  modern  science,  or  so  to  twist 
and  distort  the  language  of  these  ancient  writings,  in 
order  to  make  it  harmonise  with  known  facts,  as  to  render 
their  clearest  statements  absolutely  misleading  to  all  who 
do  not  possess  the  mystical  key  employed  by  Christian 
apologists.  But  if  the  Bible  be  regarded  in  the  shining 
light  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion, or  the  gradual  unfolding  of  natural  phenomena,  we 
find  ourselves  in  no  such  position  of  doubt  and  difficulty. 

No  longer  is  it  necessary  to  believe  that  God,  less 
than  six  thousand  years  ago,  by  a  mere  fiat,  created  the 
universe,  threw  into  infinite  space  the  innumerable  stars 
and  suns,  moulded  the  earth  into  form,  caused  the  grass 
to  grow  and  trees  to  yield  fruit,  the  waters  to  "  bring 
forth  moving  creatures  that  have  life,"  made  the  beasts 
of  the  field,  and,  as  a  final  effort,  produced  man  from 
the  dust  of  the  earth.  When  we  regard  these  state- 
ments as  the  record  of  opinions  held  by  an  ancient  and 
ignorant  people,  all  our  difficulties  are  overcome.  If  we 
apply  ourselves  to  a  rational  study  of  the  Bible,  discard- 
ing altogether  the  use  of  theological  spectacles,  we  find 
in  its  venerable  pages  much  that  is  useful  and  interesting 
to  us  as  students  of  nature,  and  also  much  that  assists 
us  m  understanding  man's  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
progress  in  the  past.  But  we  also  find  that,  so  far  from  the 
Bible  containing  a  true  record  of  the  events  it  professes 
to  narrate,  a  careful  consideration  of  its  contents  shows 
that  it  is  inaccurate  in  its  science,  false  in  its  history, 
and  bad  in  its  morality.  In  point  of  fact,  it  shows  that 
the  primitive  man's  gu^ises  at  the  riddle  of  existence, 
however  natural  to  an  ignorant  age,  and  however  useful 
as  a  working  hypothesis  to  the  simple  patriarchs  and 
peasants  of  those  far-off  times,  were  pregnant  with  all 
sorts  of  errors,  which  it  has  taken  many  centuries  to 
correct. 

That  the  results  of  the  researches  of  scientific  men 


12 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


should  be  entirely  at  variance  with  statements  in  the 
Bible  is  only  what  might  have  been  expected.  The 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  Jews  respecting  the  phenomena 
of  nature  was  at  best  of  the  scantiest  character ;  and  it 
is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  the  most  learned  among 
them  could  not  attain  to  that  degree  of  knowledge  which 
was  possible  to  people  of  more  recent  ages.  Knowledge 
accumulates  in  the  human  mind  as  gradually  as  the  shells 
of  the  little  creatures  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  that  built 
up  our  great  chalk  beds.  And  just  as  the  geological 
deposits  of  one  age  differ  from  those  of  another,  so  does 
the  knowledge  of  one  age  differ  from  that  of  the  next. 
If  it  is  true  that  all  our  faculties  have  been  strengthened 
and  developed  by  effort  and  struggle,  it  is  no  less  true 
that  the  highest  faculty,  the  mind  of  man,  is  the  last  that 
has  been  brought  under  cultivation,  and  that,  in  the 
course  of  its  development  from  the  rude  savage  up  to  the 
man  of  the  highest  intellectual  capacity,  it  has  undergone 
numerous  transitions,  many  of  which  may  be  distinctly 
traced  in  the  religious  books  of  various  ancient  peoples, 
and  in  a  marked  degree  in  the  sacred  writings  of  the 

Jews. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Bible  contains  two 
creation  stories,  obviously  written  by  different  persons 
at  different  times,  and  each  contradicting  the  other  in 
the  most  positive  manner.  The  first  (from  Genesis  i.  i 
to  ii.  3)  says  that  God  commenced  proceedings  by 
"  creating  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  Now,  here  it  is 
obvious  enough  that  the  writer  meant  that  God  created 
the  universe  out  of  nothing ;  that  at  his  word  of  com- 
mand the  "  matter  and  force,"  or  the  something  of  which 
the  "  heavens  and  the  earth  "  were  composed,  were  called 
into  being. 

By  a  knowledge  of  chemistry,  electricity,  and  the 
physical  sciences  generally,  we  now  learn,  however,  that 
matter  and  force  are  alike  indestructible ;  that  not  one 


INTRODUCTION. 


«3 


atom  of  them  can  be  destroyed ;  that,  manifold  as  are 
the  changes  through  which  it  is  possible  for  them  to 
pass,  not  a  particle  is  ever  lost ;  and,  being  imperishable, 
it  is  rational  to  suppose  that  they  never  began  to  be. 

The  writers  of  Genesis,  knowing  nothing  of  physical 
science,  conceived  that  there  was  only  one  eternal  being 
— viz.,  God,  and  that  from  him  all  other  existences 
emanated.  Nor  were  they  consistent  in  their  surmises. 
Having  predicated  of  their  deity  that  he  was  infinite 
and  eternal,  they  saw  nothing  contradictory  in  an  infinite 
being  producing  something  independent  of  himself.  Yet 
it  seems  clear  enough  now  that,  if  deity  created  anything^ 
it  must  have  been  either  out  of  himself  or  out  of  nothing. 
But  it  could  not  have  been  produced  out  of  himself 
without  limiting  himself  by  so  much  as  was  used  in 
the  creation  or  manipulation  of  the  "heaven  and  the 
earth."  In  such  case  the  infinite  deity  would  be  render- 
ing himself  finite  in  order  to  make  a  world,  or  we  should 
have  the  anomaly  of  an  infinite  God  existing  side  by 
side  with  a  finite  "heaven  and  earth,"  which  is  an 
absurdity. 

Nor  is  it  conceivable  that  deity  could  have  produced 
the  "  heaven  and  the  earth "  out  of  nothing,  since  the 
universe  must  have  been  always  occupied  by  the  infinite 
deity,  or  else  the  infinite  deity  must  have  existed  some- 
where when  there  was  nowhere  for  him  to  exist.  Or, 
the  infinite  deity  being  everywhere  throughout  all  eternity, 
there  was  something  occupying  every  point  in  space 
eternally,  and,  therefore,  to  talk  of  "  nothing  "  would  be 
to  use  language  utterly  devoid  of  meaning.  Nothing,  as 
meaning  "the  absence  of  something,"  could  not  exist  in 
a  universe  filled  by  an  infinite  deity.  But  metaphysics 
vras  not  the  strong  point  of  the  writers  of  the  Pentateuch. 
Having  created  the  "  heaven  and  the  earth,"  the 
Bible  story  tells  us  that  God  said,  "  Let  there  be  light, 
and  there  was  light."     But  the  same  writer  goes  on  to 


14 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


State  that  deity  did  not  make  either  the  sun,  moon,  or 
stars  until  the  fourth  day.  Light  and  darkness  are  spoken 
of  as  though  they  were  entities,  for  it  is  said  that  God 
divided  the  hght  from  the  darkness.  This  was  followed 
by  the  construction  of  a  solid  firmament  to  divide  the 
waters  above  the  firmament  from  the  waters  below,  the 
waters  below  immediately  gathering  together  and  forming 
the  seas  and  oceans,  and  leaving  the  other  portion  of 
the  earth's  crust  as  "dry  land."  Then  grass,  herbs,  and 
fruit-trees  grew.  Following  this,  as  we  have  already 
stated,  God  created  on  the  fourth  day  the  sun  and  moon, 
the  one  to  rule  the  day,  the  other  the  night.  "  He  made 
the  stars  also."  Out  of  the  waters  deity  then  produced 
fishes,  fowls  of  the  air,  and  great  whales;  and,  lastly, 
the  beasts  of  the  field  and  man. 

The  second  account  (Genesis  ii.  4-25),  as  Colenso 
points  out,  is  manifestly  composed  by  a  different  writer. 
Notice  the  chief  points  of  difference.  The  first  writer 
always  speaks  of  the  Creator  as  Elohim,  or  God;  the 
second  uses  the  term  Jehovah  Elohim,  or  Lord  God. 
In  the  first  narrative  the  earth  emerges  from  the  waters 
(i.  9,  10),  and  is  therefore  saturated  with  moisture; 
in  the  second  (ii.  6)  the  whole  face  of  the  ground  re- 
quires to  be  moistened.  In  the  first,  all  fowls  that  fly 
are  made  out  of  the  waters  (i.  20) ;  in  the  second,  they 
are  made  out  of  the  ground  (ii.  19).  In  the  first,  man 
is  created  in  the  image  of  God  (i.  27);  in  the  second, 
he  is  made  out  of  the  dust,  and  only  after  eating  the 
forbidden  fruit  is  he  said  to  be  like  God  (ii.  7,  iii.  22). 
In  the  first,  man  is  made  lord  of  the  whole  earth  (i.  28) ; 
in  the  second,  he  is  merely  placed  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  to  dress  and  keep  it  (ii.  8,  15).  In  the  first,  man 
and  woman  are  created  together  as  the  final  step  of  the 
whole  creation  (i.  28) ;  in  the  second,  the  beast  and 
birds  are  created  between  the  man  and  the  woman 
(ii.  7,  8,  19,  22). 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


Now,  if  these  accounts  stood  alone,  if  there  were  no 
other  records  relating  to  the  creation  of  the  universe,  or 
of  the  world  and  of  all  living  creatures,  it  would  be  our 
duty  to  critically  examine  again  and  again  all  the  extra- 
ordinary statements  made  in  the  opening  chapters  of 
Genesis. 

Thanks,  however,  to  the  labour  of  the  students  of  the 
so-called  sacred  literature  of  the  world,  no  such  task  is 
now  necessary.  The  Bible  story  of  creation  is  only  one 
of  a  large  number  of  similar  stories.  We  find,  from  a 
study  of  the  Zend  Avesta,  that  the  Persian  myth  of 
creation  is  in  many  respects  like  the  myth  in  the  Bible, 
especially  in  reference  to  the  alleged  fall  of  man  through 
eating  of  "  forbidden  fruit."  Similar  legends  may  also 
be  found  in  Hindoo  and  Greek  literature  ;  but  upon  the 
face  of  them  all  there  is  the  stamp  of  a  common  origin 
— in  point  of  truth  they  are  but  the  best  guesses  of  an 
ignorant  people,  eager  to  explain  the  universe.  What 
modern  science  has  to  say  in  the  way  of  explanation  must 
be  left  for  our  next  chapter  to  tell. 


CHAPTER   II. 


GENESIS  AND  ASTRONOMY. 


Recent  Progress  of  Science — Herbert  Speficer  on  Preju- 
dices Against  Science — Astronomy — The  Nebular  Hypo- 
thesis— Ignorance  of  the  Writers  of  Genesis — The  Sun 
and  Stars — Ancient  Astronomy — Copernicus — Newton 
— Herschel — Astronomy  Banishes  the  Gods  fro?n  the 
Universe. 

Immense  progress  has  been  made  in  all  the  physical 
sciences  during  the  last  two  centuries.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  truly  said  that,  since  the  invention  of  the  printing 
press,  methodised  knowledge  has  accumulated  with  far 
greater  rapidity  than  during  all  previous  history.  As  the 
beams  of  science  grew  more  powerful,  the  flaws  and 
errors  in  the  Bible  became  increasingly  apparent.  Hence 
the  Churches  trembled  and  still  tremble  at  the  advance 
of  science.  Yet,  after  all,  what  is  this  dreaded  science  > 
Let  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  answer  :  *'  To  see  the  absurdity 
of  the  prejudice  against  it,  we  need  only  remark  that 
science  is  simply  a  higher  development  of  common 
knowledge ;  and  that,  if  science  is  repudiated,  all  know- 
ledge must  be  repudiated  along  with  it.  The  extremest 
bigot  will  not  suspect  any  harm  in  the  observation  that 
the  sun  rises  earlier  and  sets  later  in  the  summer  than  in 
the  winter,  but  will  rather  consider  such  an  observation 
as  a  useful  aid  in  fulfilling  the  duties  of  life.  Well, 
astronomy  is  an  organised  body  of  similar  observations, 
made  with  greater  nicety,  extended  to  a  larger  number 
of  objects,  and  so  analysed  as  to  disclose  the  real  arrange- 
ment of  the  heavens,  and  to  dispel  our  false  conceptions 


GENESIS   AND    ASTRONOMY. 


17 


of  them.  That  iron  will  rust  in  water,  that  wood  will 
burn,  that  long-kept  viands  become  putrid,  the  most 
timid  sectarian  will  teach  without  alarm,  as  things  useful 
to  be  known.  But  these  are  chemical  truths  ;  chemistry 
is  a  systematised  collection  of  such  facts,  ascertained 
with  precision,  and  so  classified  and  generalised  as  to 
enable  us  to  say  with  certainty,  concerning  each  simple 
or  compound  substance,  what  change  will  occur  in  it 
under  given  conditions.  And  thus  it  is  with  all  the 
sciences." 

No  science  has  greater  fascination  to  the  speculative 
mind   than   astronomy.      Its  truths   are  discovered  by 
careful  observation,  and  by  even  more  careful  mathema- 
tical calculations.     It  has  been  well  observed  that  all 
science,  to  become  exact,  must  be  expressed  in  terms 
of  mathematics.     In  that  case,  astronomy  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  fairly  exact  science.     And  so  indeed  it  is. 
The   astronomer   can    predict   with    absolute    certainty 
many  astronomical  phenomena  a  hundred  years  before 
their  happening.     To  the  very  hour  he  can  foretell  the 
next  transit  of  Venus.     But  marvels  such  as  these  were 
a  sealed  book  to  the  ancient  writers  who,  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapters  of  Genesis,  have  given  us  a  picturesque 
but  inaccurate  and  impossible  story  of  the  beginning  of 
the  heaven  and  the  earth. 

The  generally-accepted  theory  of  modern  science  is 
that,  aeons  and  aeons  of  ages  in  the  past,  all  that  now 
exists  in  our  solar  and  sidereal  systems — planets,  moons, 
stars,  suns — was  one  mass  of  gaseous  matter  at  an 
enormously  high  temperature.* 


*  It  should  be  noted  that  Mr.  Norman  Lockyer  and  other  astro- 
nomers consider  nebulae  to  be  scattered  swarms  of  meteorites, 
which,  by  condensation  and  collision,  increase  in  temperature,  give 
rise  to  extremely  hot  and  bright  vapours,  and  so  form  different 
orders  of  stars. 


i8 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


In  the  course  of  untold  ages  there  was  a  loss  of  heat 
in  this  vast  fiery  nebula,  which  brought  the  particles 
closer  together  and  set  them  into  a  spinning  motion, 
that  increased  as  the  particles  became  more  united. 
From  this  great  whirling  mass  outer  rings  were  from 
time  to  time  thrown  off,  and  from  these  rings  still  other 
rings,  until  there  were  a  multitude  of  moving  bodies  in 
the  universe,  each  revolving  round  the  largest  mass  near 
to  it. 

Our  sun  in  this  way  became  the  centre  round  which 
a  number  of  planets  revolved ;  these  planets  being 
themselves  the  children  of  the  sun,  having  been  thrown 
off  from  it  in  rings  at  various  intervals ;  the  moons  pro- 
ceeding from  the  various  planets  in  the  same  manner. 
By  the  spinning  motion  and  the  law  of  attraction  all 
these  bodies  were  rendered  globe-like  in  shape.  At  this 
point  the  nebular  hypothesis  falls  into  line  with  the 
Copernican  theory  of  the  solar  system.  The  Copernican 
theory  accounts  for  the  phenomena  of  night  and  day  as 
resulting  from  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  own 
axis,  while  summer  and  winter  are  explained  on  the 
supposition  that  the  earth  travels  round  the  sun 
once  a  year.  There  is  summer  in  whichever  part  of 
the  earth  is  facing  the  sun,  while  in  that  portion  of 
the  earth  which  is  turned  away  from  the  sun  there  is 
winter. 

The  statement  that  light  was  created  on  the  first  day 
and  the  sun  on  the  fourth  is  clear  proof  that  the  writer 
of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  was  wholly  ignorant  of 
such  sciences  as  astronomy  or  physics.  The  former 
teaches  us  that  our  planet  was  originally  a  part  of  the 
sun,  and  cannot  exist  as  a  world  for  a  single  instant 
without  it,  being  held  in  its  orbit  by  this  great  central 
attraction ;  while  the  latter  makes  known  to  us  that  light 
is  not  an  entity,  but  a  phenomenon — a  mode  of  motion  ; 
and,  so  far  as  our  earth  is  concerned,  we  derive  all  our 


GENESIS   AND   ASTRONOMY. 


19 


light  from  the  sun.  But,  thinking  that  light  was  some- 
thing substantial  and  independent — something  that  could 
exist  by  itself,  like  air  and  water,  and  that  it  could  be 
separated  from  darkness,  which  was  also  regarded  as  an 
entity— the  writer  of  Genesis  saw  nothing  inconsistent 
in  his  statements  that  God  said,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  and 
there  was  light,  on  the  first  day,  and  that  he  created  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  on  the  fourth.  How  should  he  ?  He 
did  not  know  that,  hundreds  of  years  after  the  hand 
with  which  he  penned  the  story  of  the  creation  was 
mingled  with  the  dust,  religious  zealots  would  proclaim 
that  his  writings  were  divinely  inspired.  He  did  not 
know  that  thousands  of  people  would  regard  his  pious 
and  simple  guesses  as  God-given  truths.  Nor  did  he 
know  that  the  investigations  of  men  of  science  would 
one  day  reveal  the  absolute  absurdity  of  his  statements. 
So  he  wrote  on  confidently,  with  the  air  of  one  who 
never  dreamt  of  the  possibility  of  contradiction. 

But  human  knowledge  grows,  and  day  by  day  the 
dreams  of  the  past  give  place  to  the  realities  of  the 
present,  the  fancies  of  yesterday  to  the  facts  of  to-day. 
The  sun  we  now  know  is  the  grand  centre  of  our 
planetary  system,  by  whose  attractive  power  the  planets 
are  held  in  their  respective  orbits,  and  from  whose  source 
we  receive  all  our  light  and  heat. 

Of  the  magnitude  of  this  great  orb  it  is  impossible 
to  convey  any  adequate  idea.  We  know,  however,  that 
the  ancient  writers  of  the  Bible  had  no  conception  of 
its  vastness,  but  regarded  it  as  a  brilliant  light  hung  up 
in  the  heavens  to  givQ  us  light  by  day,  while  the  moon 
served  a  similar  purpose  at  night. 

While  it  is  impossible  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  vastness  of  this  great  burning  mass  by  mere  arith- 
metic, still,  as  this  is  the  only  method  by  which 
any  notion  of  its  immensity  can  be  conveyed  to  the 
human  mind  at  all,  we  may  contemplate  the  stupendous 


20 


THE   BIBLE  AND   EVOLUTION. 


magnitude  of  this  body  by  certain  comparisons  and  by 
reference  to  the  following  figures.  By  various  calcula- 
tions, the  diameter  of  the  sun  has  been  found  to  be 
867,000  miles.  A  train,  travelling  thirty  miles  an  hour, 
would  require  more  than  ten  years  to  complete  a  journey 
round  the  sun.  Including  its  atmosphere,  our  great 
luminary  is  more  than  thirteen  million  times  as  large  as 
the  earth.  If  we  represent  the  sun  by  a  globe  about  two 
feet  in  diameter,  a  pea  at  a  distance  of  215  feet  will 
represent  the  earth. 

Our  early  ancestors  had  no  idea  of  the  vastness  of  the 
sun,  and  they  were  doubtless  led  to  believe  that  it  was 
not  very  large  because  of  its  great  distance  from  the 
earth ;  and  when  we  learn  that  it  is  no  less  than  ninety- 
three  millions  of  miles  away  from  the  earth,  we  cannot 
wonder  at  the  error  into  which  their  lack  of  knowledge 
caused  them  to  fall.  To  form  some  idea,  however 
vague,  of  what  this  means,  let  us  take  two  familiar  illus- 
trations. A  train  going  at  the  speed  of  thirty  miles  an 
hour,  and  starting  on  January  ist,  1890,  would  not 
arrive  at  the  sun  till  about  the  year  2242.  Or,  again, 
a  cannon-ball  may  be  shot  out  of  the  mouth  of  a 
cannon  and  sent  spinning  through  space  at  the  rate 
of  five  hundred  miles  an  hour.  Travelling  at  this 
enormous  speed,  it  would  take  a  cannon-ball  more  than 
twenty-one  years  to  reach  the  sun. 

With  these  facts  in  our  minds,  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  Bible  writers  had  no  conception  of  either  the  distance 
of  the  sun  from  the  earth  or  its  vast  proportions.  And 
their  ignorance  is  even  more  apparent  in  reference  to 
the  stars,  for  they  represent  that,  while  it  took  deity  six 
days  to  fashion  the  earth,  and  reduce  its  original  chaos 
to  order,  he  threw  into  the  vast  expanse,  at  one  single 
instant,  all  the  stars  that  stud  the  universe,  and  shed  light 
and  heat  over  myriads  of  worlds. 

The  writer  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  entertained 


GENESIS    AND   ASTRONOMY. 


21 


the  crudest  and  most  primitive  notions  both  of  the 
distance  of  the  stars  from  the  sun  or  the  earth,  and  of 
their  magnitude.  He  appears  to  have  thought  that  this 
earth  was  the  only  world,  and  that  all  the  heavenly  bodies 
were  unimportant  auxiliaries.  The  universe  to  him 
consisted  merely  of  this  earth,  which  he  believed  to  be 
walled  about  on  every  hand  by  an  overhanging,  arch-like 
solid  firmament. 

When  the  poet  Thomson  finely  wrote  : 

"  With  what  an  awful,  world-revolving  power 
Were  first  the  unwieldy  planets  launch'd  along 
Th'  illimitable  void  !  thus  to  remain 
Amid  the  flux  of  many  thousand  years, 
That  oft  has  swept  the  toiling  race  of  men 
And  all  their  laboured  monuments  away, 
Firm,  unremitting,  matchless,  in  their  course  ; 
To  the  kind-tempered  change  of  night  and  day. 
And  of  the  seasons  ever  stealing  round, 
Minutely  faithful  "— 

he  was  introducing  into  his  poetic  view  of  the  creation 
hints  which  he  borrowed  from  modern  astronomy,  and 
which  would  have  greatly  astonished  the  unlearned 
recorder  of  the  Six  Days'  work.  No  idea  of  the  "  illimit- 
able void "  through  which  the  multitudinous  stars  con- 
tinually coursed  appears  to  have  entered  the  recorder's 
thoughts.  To  him  the  earth  was  flat,  and  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars  fixed  in  the  heavens  like  sun-burners,  or  elec- 
tric lights  on  the  roofs  of  theatres  or  great  halls. 

The  writer  of  the  book  of  Joshua  was  no  less  ignorant, 
for,  according  to  him,  at  the  command  of  the  Israelitish 
chieftain,  the  "  sun  and  the  moon  stood  still " — a  state- 
ment which  is  absurd  on  the  face  of  it,  since,  so  far  as 
this  earth  is  concerned,  the  sun  does  not  move,  but  the 
earth  revolves  round  it.  It  is  a  declaration,  moreover, 
which  could  only  have  been  made  in  an  age  of  supreme 
ignorance  of  the  elementary  principles  of  astronomy. 
Many  divines  have  sought  to  explain  away  the  absurdity 


22 


THE   BIBLE  AND   EVOLUTION. 


of  the  inspired  author  by  declaring  that  what  actually 
took  place  was  that  the  earth  stood  still,  and  this,  it  is 
alleged,  gave  the  appearance  described  by  the  Bible 
writer.  But  this  only  renders  the  passage  more  ridiculous 
from  a  scientific  standpoint  than  before.  For,  as  the 
earth,  besides  rotating  on  its  axis,  is  travelling  round  the 
sun  at  a  speed  almost  equivalent  to  a  thousand  miles  an 
hour,  the  stoppage  of  the  earth's  revolution  would  have 
meant  the  precipitation  into  space  of  all  animated 
beings,  and  the  probable  engulfment  of  the  earth  by  the 

sun. 

A  careful  study  of  the  pages  of  the  Bible  will  show 
that  all  its  writers,  from  the  author  of  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  to  the  last  chapter  of  Revelation,  attributed  to 
St.  John  the  Divine,  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  the 
earth  was  the  centre  of  the  universe.  Nobody  can  blame 
them  for  it ;  they  were,  doubtless,  perfectly  honest ;  and, 
if  the  priesthood  of  subsequent  ages  had  not  claimed 
"  divine  inspiration  "  for  the  writings  in  which  this  view 
is  set  forth,  early  astronomers— or  astrologers,  as  they 
were  called— would  have  deserved  nothing  but  praise  for 
their  earnest  guesses  at  truth. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  human  mind  the  study  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  underwent  important  changes.  Human 
life  at  best  is  short,  and  few  are  the  facts  which  even 
long-lived  astronomers  could  gather  for  the  benefit  of 
their  fellows.  The  learned  Josephus  thought  that  *'God 
indulged  the  antediluvians  with  a  long  life  that  they 
might  bring  astronomy  and  geometry  to  perfection."  If 
that  were  the  case,  then  undoubtedly  the  intention  of 
deity  was  never  realised,  unless,  in  consequence  of  the 
antediluvian  astronomers  having  very  inadequate  means 
of  making  known  their  accumulated  knowledge,  much  of 
it  was  lost  either  in  the  teaching,  or,  as  a  religious  writer 
seriously  suggests,  "  in  the  flood."  In  other  words,  it 
must  have  been  washed  "  from  the  tables  of  the  memory" 


GENESIS   AND   ASTRONOMY. 


23 


of   ^'righteous"  Noah   and  his  (possibly)  ** righteous," 
but  probably  very  ignorant,  family. 

The  Chaldeans,  the  Egyptians,  and  Chinese  appear  to 
have  made  astronomy  an  important  study,  and  with 
some  useful  results.  The  Egyptians  conceived  that  the 
planets  Mercury  and  Venus  revolved  like  satellites 
around  the  sun  ;  but  they  believed  the  earth  to  be 
stationary,  and  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  to  revolve  round 
it.  The  Greeks,  too,  cultivated  the  study  of  astronomy, 
and  Pythagoras,  who  lived  more  than  five  hundred  years 
before  Christ,  framed  a  scheme  of  the  universe  which 
curiously  shadowed  forth  the  Copernican  theory.  He 
taught  that  the  universe  was  a  sphere,  and  that  round 
its  central  fire  revolved  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  and 
the  five  planets  known  to  antiquity. 

But  it  was  not  till  Copernicus,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
formulated  this  system  afresh,  with  considerable  improve- 
ments, that  it  began  to  be  accepted  even  by  cultivated 
persons.  Galileo  was  condemned  for  preaching  what 
was  regarded  as  a  heathen  and  "  Pythagorean  "  doctrine, 
and  had  to  recant  or  die.  He  preferred  to  recant! 
Descartes,  rather  than  offend  the  Church  of  Rome, 
suppressed  a  work  in  which  he  treated  of  the  revolution 
of  the  earth.  Bruno,  more  brave,  chose  rather  to  die  at 
the  stake  than  yield  up  what  he  believed  to  be  true. 

The  invention  of  the  telescope,  the  wonderful  dis- 
coveries made  with  its  aid  by  Galileo  and  others,  all 
tended  to  confirm  the  principles  laid  down  by  Copernkus, 
and  to  open  up  a  wider  field  of  study  for  future  astrono- 
mers. With  a  still  further  improvement  of  the  telescope, 
and  the  manufacture  of  one  120  feet  in  length,  great 
strides  were  made  in  astronomical  science. 

In  the  year  1666,  in  his  twenty-fourth  year  of  age, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  made  his  wonderful  discovery  of  the 
law  of  gravitation.  While  sitting  in  his  garden  the  young 
scientist  saw  an  apple  fall  from  a  tree,  an  incident  which 


24 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


led  him  to  numerous  important  reflections.  First  of  all, 
he  thought  that,  as  all  bodies  lighter  than  the  earth  were 
irresistibly  attracted  towards  it,  so  it  might  be  that  this 
law  of  attraction  or  gravitation  acted  in  other  regions 
besides  the  earth,  and  that  this  law  extended  as  far  as  the 
moon,  whose  motion  would  necessarily  be  influenced  by 
it.  In  his  "  Principia  "  Sir  Isaac  Newton  very  largely 
elaborates  this  theory.  He  also  constructed  the  first 
reflecting  telescope. 

Not  many  remarkable  results  were  obtained  in  astro- 
nomy from  this  point  until  Sir  William  Herschel  directed 
his  large  telescopes  towards  the  heavens.  Then  many 
important  discoveries  were  made,  which  not  only  ex- 
tended the  astronomical  view  of  the  planetary  system, 
but  also  of  the  sidereal  heavens. 

Sir  William  Herschel's  son,  following  in  his  father's 
footsteps,  continued  the  work,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Sir  J. 
South,  made  a  catalogue  of  380  double  and  triple  stars, 
determining  with  the  utmost  precision  and  accuracy  their 
distances  and  angles  of  position. 

From  this  time  down  to  the  present,  extraordinary 
progress  has  been  made,  so  that  it  may  be  truly  said  that 
not  only  are  most  of  the  movements  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  known ;  not  only  can  the  distances  of  some  of 
the  stars  be  determined ;  not  only  can  eclipses  of  sun  or 
moon  be  accurately  foretold ;  not  only  can  the  composi- 
tion of  comets  be  demonstrated,  but  Professor  Tyndall 
has  carried  experimental  science  so  far  as  to  determine 
the  weight  of  a  comet's  tail. 

All  this  knowledge,  it  will  be  observed,  is  of  slow 
growth.  Changes  undoubtedly  have  taken  place  in  the 
heavenly  bodies  themselves  during  the  thousands  of 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  early  astrologers  or  the 
BibUcal  writers  first  devoted  their  attention  to  the  study 
of  celestial  phenomena.  But  no  such  changes  have 
occurred  to  account  for  the  inverted  view  of  the  subject 


GENESIS   AND   ASTRONOMY. 


25 


which  our  early  ancestors  entertained.  To  them  the 
stars  were  small  luminaries  fixed  in  the  heavens  to  give 
the  earth  light  by  night.  They  were  but  twinkling  tapers, 
or,  as  in  Lorenzo's  fancy,  "patines  of  bright  gold." 
Now,  however,  they  are  discovered  to  be  immense 
bodies,  millions,  or  in  some  cases  billions,  of  miles  away 
from  the  earth ;  some  of  them  are  found  to  be  great 
suns  ;  others,  probably,  are  so  distant  that  the  light  from 
them  has  not  yet  reached  the  earth,  notwithstanding  the 
immense  speed  at  which  it  travels.  "  There  is  only  one 
star  in  the  whole  heavens,  a  bright  star  called  Alpha,  in 
the  constellation  of  the  Centaur,  which  is  known  to  be 
about  20,000,000,000,000,000  of  miles  from  the  earth. 
All  the  other  stars,  of  which  many  millions  are  visible 
through  powerful  telescopes,  are  further  off  than  this."* 

The  study  of  astronomy,  in  addition  to  revealing 
many  facts  with  which  we  were  previously  unacquainted, 
has  done  more  than  any  other  science  to  banish  the 
gods  from  the  universe  and  to  make  known  the  unity  of 
nature.  The  astronomer  finds  that  he  can  set  no  limits 
to  nature;  that  he  can  neither  scale  her  heights  nor 
penetrate  her  depths;  that,  go  as  far,  in  any  given 
direction,  as  he  may,  there  is  still  boundless  space, 
beyond  which  no  human  eye  has  penetrated,  or  probably 
can  penetrate. 

Man's  faculties  are  finite ;  how,  then,  can  he  possibly 
grasp  the  infinite— whether  it  be  called  nature  or  God  ? 


"Modern  vScience  and  Modern  Thought,"  by  Samuel  Laing. 


CHAPTER    III. 


GENESIS  AND  BIOLOGY. 

Errors  of  Genesis  Regarding  the  Appearance  of  Animal 
Forms — Geological  Strata  and  their  Fossil  Remains — 
Proofs  of  the  Antiquity  of  Man — Haeckel  07i  the 
Pedigree  of  Man — The  Origin  of  Life. 

Biology,  or  the  science  which  treats  of  all  forms  of 
animated  matter,  is,  like  physiology  and  palaeontology,  a 
very  young  science.  Man  has  regarded  living  forms  in 
the  light  of  *'  special  creations  "  for  so  many  thousands 
of  years  that  it  required  an  age  of  great  and  general  in- 
tellectual enlightenment  to  be  reached  before  even  the 
most  courageous  among  men  of  science  would  be  bold 
enough  to  study  any  forms  of  life  apart  from  the  accepted 
theological  view.  For  they  would  doubtless  reason  that, 
if  God  created  every  living  thing  either  out  of  the  water 
or  out  of  the  earth,  it  was  but  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  he  made  them  very  much  as  we  find  them  to-day. 
If,  for  instance,  God  made  a  wolf  or  a  bear,  and  if  it  is 
admitted  that  like  always  produces  like,  then  it  would  be 
rational  to  conclude  that  wolves  and  bears  would  produce 
wolves  and  bears  of  the  same  type  for  all  time.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  God  made  man,  and  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  by  parity  of  reasoning  it  would 
be  rational  to  conclude  that  man  would  remain  man 
forever.  And  if  there  were  any  variations,  they  would 
be  merely  slight  and  unimportant,  and  insufficient  to 
cause  the  slightest  doubt  that  all  men  were  brothers,  and 
proceeded  from  the  original  genus  homo. 

But  when  men  of  science  came  to  study  geology  with 


GENESIS   AND   BIOLOGY. 


27 


/    / 


an  open  mind,  and  with  sufficient  courage  to  proclaim 
the  results  of  their  investigations  and  deductions,  it  was 
found  that  the  order  in  which,  according  to  the  Bible, 
the  forms  of  life  made  their  appearance  on  the  earth  was 
totally  wrong,  and  that,  whereas  Genesis  says  that  they 
appeared  in  the  following  order— (i)  fishes  and  birds, 

(2)  mammalia  and  reptiles,  (3)  man— science  reveals  the 
fact  that  the  proper  order  was  :  (i)  Crustacea,  (2)  fishes, 

(3)  reptiles  and  birds,  (4)  mammalia  generally,  (5)  man. 
Indeed,  geology  demonstrates  that  we  have  millions  and 
billions  of  fossil  shells  in  the  Cambrian  period,  long 
before  the  existence  of  fishes ;  then  the  great  Devonian 
fish  period;  then  the  Saurian  period;  long  afterwards 
came  the  archaic  animals  of  the  mammoth  family ;  then 
those  still  nearer  approaching  the  types  of  animals  be- 
longing to  the  history  of  man ;  and,  finally,  man  with 
his  contemporaries.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  we  have 
six  periods  instead  of  three.  To  go  more  minutely  into 
the  subject,  it  may  be  said  that,  in  the  Plutonic  or  un- 
stratified  series,  no  life-forms  appear,  the  conditions  not 
being  favourable.  They  first  come  to  view  in  the  strati- 
fied rocks,  of  which  the  Palaeozoic  (or  primary)  forma- 
tion is  subdivided  into  seven  periods  : — 

1.  Laurentia?i,  containing  fossil  remains  of  the  forami- 
nifera,  some  of  the  first  living  organisms. 

2.  Huronian,  containing  fossil  remains  of  the  lower 
organised  molluscs. 

3.  Cambrian,  containing  fossil  remains  of  sponges, 
sea  weeds,  star  fishes,  sea  lilies,  lowly  shell  fish,  marine 
worms,  and  the  first  land  plants. 

4.  Silurian,  fossil  remains  of  coral,  chambered  spiral 
shell  fish,  crabs,  sea  worms,  and  bony  plates  and  scales 
of  a  low  form  of  fish. 

5.  Devonian,  fossil  land  plants,  fishes  belonging  to 
shark,  ray,  and  sturgeon  families,  and  first  fossil  in- 
sect. 


0. 

28 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


6.  Carboniferous^  fossil  scorpions,  beetles,  and  amphi- 
bians. 

7.  Permian^  fossil  reptiles. 

The  secondary  division  includes  : — 

1.  Triassic,  gigantic  reptiles  and  first  mammals  (small 
marsupials). 

2.  Jurassic^  or  Oolitic^  bird-reptiles,  and  several  species 
of  marsupials. 

3.  Cretaceous,  fossils  of  new  bird-reptiles. 
The  tertiary  division  embraces  : — 

1.  Eocene  (dawn  of  recent  life),  consisting  of  sand- 
stone, limestone,  sands,  clays,  marls,  coral  rags,  and 
lignites,  and  containing  fossil  equine  forms,  birds,  rep- 
tiles, bats,  and  marsupials. 

2.  Meiocenc,  containing  fossil  apes  and  marsupials. 

3.  Pleiocene,  fossil  apes,  bears,  and  hyenas. 

4.  Pleistocene,  fossil  remains  of  apes  and  men,  im- 
plements of  stone,  bone,  and  horn,  etc.* 

Let  us  now  take  a  brief  glance  at  the  evidence  which 
palaeontology  affords  with  regard  to  the  natural  history 
of  man  : — 

1.  Flint  implements,  which  indicate  the  great  antiquity 
of  man,  have  been  discovered  in  certain  strata. 

2.  These  flint  implements  are  found  side  by  side  with 
the  bones  of  extinct  animals. 

3.  The  skulls  of  human  beings  are  found  in  caves, 
also  with  the  remains  of  extinct  animals. 

Sir  John  Lubbock,  in  his  work  on  "  Pre-Historic 
Times,"  after  examining  the  evidence  of  palaeontology, 
says  that  the  so-called  flint  instruments  are  of  human 
workmanship,  and  that  they  are  of  the  same  age  as  the 
beds  in  which  they  are  found,  and  the  bones  of  extinct 
animals  with  which  they  occur ;  and  that  the  beds  in 
which  they  were  deposited  belong  to  a  period  vastly 


*  See  Dr.  Hardwicke's  "Evolution  and  Creation." 


GENESIS   AND   BIOLOGY. 


29 


anterior  to  the  date  assigned  by  Archbishop  Usher  to 
the  creation  of  the  world  (4004  e.g.).* 

But  to  turn  from  generalities  to  particulars. 

In  1774  a  scientist,  named  J.  F.  Esper,  made  a  dis- 
covery in  Bavaria  of  the  remains  of  human  bones  mingled 
with  remains  of  the  northern  bear  and  other  species  then 
unknown.  In  1797  John  Frere,  an  Englishman,  made 
a  similar  discovery  in  Suffolk. 

In  1826  Tournal,  of  Narbonne,  made  some  important 
discoveries  in  Aube,  France,  where  he  found  bones  of 
the  bison  and  reindeer  cut  and  carved  by  the  hand  of 
man,  together  with  remains  of  edible  shell  fish,  which 
must  have  been  deposited  by  some  one  who  dwelt  there. 

Later,  in  1833,  Schmerling  found  in  some  caverns  in 
Belgium  two  human  skulls  surrounded  by  teeth  of  rhino- 
ceros, elephant,  bear,  and  hyena,  all  of  extinct  species. 

In  1842,  and  again  in  1847,  important  discoveries 
were  made  in  Devonshire,  at  a  place  called  Kent's 
Cavern  jt  while,  in  1857,  the  Neanderthal  skull  was  dis- 
covered, of  which  Professor  Huxley  wrote  that  it  was 
"  the  most  brutal  of  all  known  human  skulls,  resembling 
those  of  the  apes." 

Discoveries  of  a  remarkable  character  were  made  in 
1863  and  1864,  of  human  remains,  along  with  bones  of 
mammoth,  rhinoceros,  and  other  extinct  animals.  Still 
later,  in  1868,  in  the  valley  of  the  Seine,  portions  of 
human  skeletons  were  found  in  the  same  beds  where 
palaeolithic  implements  had  been  embedded. 

This,  then,  is  some  of  the  palaeontological  evidence — 
evidence  which  not  only  demonstrates  the  vast  antiquity 
of  man,  but  shows  also  the  gradual  evolutionary  process 


*  On  this  subject,  consult  also  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  "  Antiquity  of 
Man."     An  excellent  summary  of   the  question  is  given  in  Mr. 
Laing's  **  Modern  Science  and  Modern  Thought." 

t  See  W.  Pengelly  on  ' '  The  Cave  Men  of  Devonshire. " 


30 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


which  has  been  going  on  through  the  vast  epochs  over 
which  the  Hves  of  extinct  animals  and  man  have 
stretched. 

But,  to  understand  the  wide-reaching  character  of  this 
evolutionary  method  in  nature,  we  must  glance  for  a 
while  at  the  known  facts  of  general  biology.  For 
this  purpose,  let  us  take  Professor  Haeckel's  statement  on 
the  subject. 

In  his  "  Pedigree  of  Man  "  the  Professor  gives  the 
following  order  to  the  appearance  of  living  forms  on  the 
earth  :— First,  the  "  Moneron,"  a  structureless  albuminous 
atom  of  bioplasm,  which  is  so  simple  a  form  of  life  as 
to  be  even  without  a  cell.  We  have,  then,  this  proto- 
plasm developing  into,  firstly,  a  number  of  single 
nucleated  cells,  called  Amoebae,  and  these  in  turn  into 
masses  of  nucleated  cells,  called  Synamoebse.  After 
these  come  Ciliata,  which  consist  of  Synamoebse,  covered 
with  vibratile  cilia.  From  these  we  pass  to  Gastrseada, 
and  from  these  again  to  a  low  form  of  worm  called 
Archelminthes ;  then  by  slow  processes  are  evolved  from 
these  lowly  forms  Acrania,  or  first  vetebrate  animals, 
"  without  skulls,  brains,  central  heart,  jaws,  or  limbs,  but 
with  a  true  vertebral  cord."  We  thus  reach  the  first 
vertebrate  class.  But  of  vertebrates  there  are  eight 
classes : — 

1.  Lancelet,  or  Amphioxus. 

2.  Cyclootoma. 

3.  Pisces. 

4.  Dipnoi. 

5.  Amphibia. 

6.  Reptilia. 

7.  Aves. 

8.  Mammalia. 

Then  there  are  fourteen  orders  of  Mammalia,  from 
the  water-frequenting  Monotremata  (Ornithorhynchus)  to 
the  Simiae  (apes).     Next  we  come  to  species  of  anthro- 


r 


f 


GENESIS   AND   BIOLOGY. 


31 


poid  apes,  and  lastly  to  man.     Haeckel's  arrangement 
of  these  latter  is  as  follows  : — 


Asiatic  (Satyri)  Brachy- 
cephali 

frican  Pongines  Dolico- 
cephali  (long-skulled) 


AVoolly-haired  (Ulotrichi) 
Dolicocephali 

Straight-haired  (Llssotrl- 
chi).  Mostly  Brachy- 
cephali  (short-skulled) 
or  Mesocephali  (me- 
dium length  of  skull)  ; 
a  few  Dolicocephali 


Anthropoida. 

/    I.  Lesser  Orang  (Satyrus  Morio) 
\    2.  Greater  Orang  (Satyrus  Orang) 

/    I.  Chimpanzee  (Pongo  Troglodytes) 
\    2.  Gorilla  (Pongo  Gorilla) 

Homines. 

1.  Papuan  (Homo  Papua) 

2.  Hottentot  (Homo  Hottentotus) 

3.  Caffre  (Homo  Cafer) 

4.  Negro  (Homo  Niger) 


5- 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9. 

10. 


Australian  (Homo  Australis) 
Malay  (Homo  Polynesius) 
Mongol  (Homo  Mongolus) 
Polar  Man  (Homo  Arcticus) 
American  (Homo  Americanus) 
Caucasian  (Homo  Mediterraneus) 


Now,  if  we  take  the  above  statement  of  the  evolu- 
tionary process  in  the  order  of  the  development  of 
living  forms,  we  shall  find  by  careful  investigation  that 
it  is  corroborated  in  every  particular  by  the  sister 
sciences,  geology,  palaeontology,  and  biology. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  evolutionist  carries  his  investi- 
gation still  further.  He  studies  the  animal  form  in  the 
foetus,  and  finds  that  at  various  stages  the  brain  of  the 
human  being  resembles  that  of  fish,  reptile,  bird,  etc., 
and  so  on  until  it  reaches  the  highest  degree  of  develop- 
ment— viz.,  the  human.  So  that  many  scientists  declare 
to-day  that  the  history  of  the  human  being  in  the  foetus 
is  "a  picture  in  little,  or  outline  of  the  history  of  the 
race." 

Here,  then,  we  have  ample  evidence  of  the  ignorance 
of  the  Biblical  writers.  Science  teaches,  the  facts  of 
geology  demonstrate,  that  the  age  of  the  earth  is  to  be 
measured,  not  by  thousands,  but  probably  millions  of 
years ;  that  the  earth  has  undergone  numerous  changes 


32 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


of  which  there  is  no  mention  in  historic  times.  Palaeon- 
tology, as  Haeckel  well  says,  *'  furnishes  at  the  present 
time,  in  many  ways,  the  most  reliable  and  most  access- 
ible kind  of  evidence  as  to  the  order  of  creation  in  the 
past.  For  the  fossils,  or  petrified  remains  of  plants  and 
animals,  that  we  meet  with  in  the  sedimentary  strata  of 
the  earth's  crust  are,  in  truth,  the  fossil  remains  or 
impressions  of  those  organisms,  long  dead,  that  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  or  many  millions  of  years  before 
peopled  our  earth.  Among  these  organisms,  also,  in 
conformity  with  evolution,  must  have  been  the  veritable 
ancestors  of  the  species  of  plants  and  animals  in  exist- 
ence to-day,  and  the  allies  more  or  less  closely  related 
of  those  dead  and  gone  ancestors.  Hence,  many 
naturalists,  especially  those  who  wish  to  proceed  as 
carefully  and  exactly  as  is  possible,  as  well  as  those 
who  would  extend  palaeontology  yet  further,  place  in 
that  science  their  greatest  hope,  and  regard  it  as  the 
sole  reliable  evidence  in  favour  of  phylogeny." 

But  it  will  be  said :    "  If  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
takes  us  back  by  gradual  stages  to  the  lowest  form  of 
life,  which  we  find  to  be  a  protoplasmic  germ,  what 
theory   does   the  evolutionist  accept    in    regard  to   the 
origin  of  life  ?"     The  evolutionist  does  not  pretend  to 
give  an  authoritative  answer  to  the  question.     But  he 
has  his  belief.     It  is    this :    Matter   is   indestructible ; 
force  is  also  indestructible ;  and  combinations  of  matter 
and  force  cause  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe.     In 
view  of  this  sublime  potency  of  nature  we  are  tempted, 
as  Professor  Tyndall  remarked  in  his   address  to  the 
British  Association  in    1874,  "to  close  to  some  extent 
with  Lucretius,  when  he  affirms  that  '  Nature  is  seen  to 
do  all  things  spontaneously  of  herself  without  the  med- 
dling of  the  gods  ;'  or  with  Bruno,  when  he  declares 
that  Matter  is    not  'that  mere   empty  capacity  which 
philosophers  have  pictured  her  to  be,  but  the  universal 


GENESIS  AND   BIOLOGY. 


33 


mother  who  brings  forth  all  things  as  the  fruit  of  her 
own  womb.' " 

Organic  life,  the  evolutionist  believes,  evolved  out  of 
what  is  called  ''inanimate  matter."  Is  this  unreason- 
able? Every  particle  of  matter  in  the  universe  is  in 
motion,  every  atom  in  constant  activity.  How  do  we 
know  that  any  particular  atom  is  dead  ?  What  we  call 
death  is  merely  change.  The  doctrine  of  evolution 
involves  the  affirmation  that  matter  and  force  contain 
the  potentiality  of  all  forms  of  life.  Life  is  motion. 
The  sun's  motion  on  its  axis,  the  moon's  revolution 
round  the  earth,  the  growing  trees,  the  running  rivers, 
the  surging  waves  of  the  sea,  are  all  manifestations  of 
life ;  and  just  as  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  are 
continually  unfolding  from  simple  forms  to  complex,  so 
the  vast  universe  is  one  ceaseless,  but  gradual,  unfolding 
of  natural  forces  j  and  this  evolution  seems  likely  to  go 
on  forever. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  MYTHS. 


Legends  of  the  ^^FalV — Persian — Greek — The  Flood — 
Confusion  of  Tongues — Samson — -Jonah. 

We  have  seen  how  completely  antagonistic  are  the 
teachings  of  the  Bible  to  the  demonstrated  facts  of 
modern  science ;  and  many  of  the  ancient  stories  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  man  and  of  his  supposed  early 
history  are  no  less  opposed  to  common  sense  and  the 
well-attested  evidence  which  is  open  to  every  student  of 
science  and  ancient  history.  Indeed,  by  the  compara- 
tive study  of  religions  and  "  folk  lore  "  in  connection 
with  early  races  of  mankind,  we  are  able  to  trace  many 
of  the  absurd  stories  in  the  Bible  to  much  more  ancient, 
and  in  some  cases  to  original,  sources. 

Most  Christians  believe  the  story  of  the  "  fall  of  man," 
as  narrated  in  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis,  to  be  literally 
true.  And  they  are  perfectly  consistent  in  so  doing ; 
for,  if  the  story  of  the  "  fall  "  be  merely  a  myth,  upon 
what  ground  can  they  rest  their  belief  in  the  atonement  ? 
If  Adam  did  not  sin,  why  should  Christ  die  ?  But  the 
Christian  who  believes  that  Adam  and  Eve  were  tempted 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden  about  six  thousand  years  ago 
can  have  heard  very  little  about  similar  stories  to  be 
found  in  Persian,  Greek,  or  Chinese  literature,  or  must 
be  so  obtuse  of  understanding  as  to  imagine  that  the 
later  productions  of  the  Hebrews  contained  the  true 
statement  of  affairs,  while  earlier  books  were  merely 
copies. 

Take  the  Persian  myth  of  the  parents  of  the  human 


OLD   TESTAMENT   MYTHS. 


35 


race,    quoted  by   Kalisch   from   the   Zend-Avesta.      It 
runs  thus  :  "  The  first  couple,  Meshia  and  Meshiane, 
lived    originally  in   purity  and   innocence.      Perpetual 
happiness  was  promised  to  them  by  Ormuzd,  the  creator 
of  every  good  gift,  if  they  persevered  in  their  virtue. 
But  an  evil  demon  (Dev)  w^as  sent  to  them  by  Ahriman, 
the  representative  of  everything  noxious  and  sinful.     He 
appeared  unexpectedly  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  and 
gave  them  the  fruit  of  a  w^onderful  tree,  Hom,  which 
imparted  immortality,  and  had  the  power  of  restoring 
the  dead  to  life.     Thus  evil  inclinations  entered  their 
hearts ;    all    their    moral    excellence    was    destroyed. 
Ahriman  himself  appeared  under  the  form  of  the  same 
reptile,   and  completed  the  work  of  seduction.     They 
acknowledged  him  instead  of  Ormuzd  as  the  creator  of 
everything  good,  and  the  consequence  was  that    they 
forfeited  forever  the  internal  happiness  for  which  they 
were  destined.     They  killed  beasts  and  clothed  them- 
selves in  their  skins ;  they  built  houses,  but  paid  not  the 
debt  of  gratitude  to  the  deity.     The  evil  demons  thus 
obtained  still  more  perfect  power  over  their  minds,  and 
called  forth  envy,  hatred,  discord,  and  rebellion,  which 
raged  in  the  bosom  of  the  families."     The  learned  and 
painstaking  author  significantly  adds  :  "  It  is  unnecessary 
to  point  out  the  parallel  features  of  this  legend  with  the 
Mosaic  narrative.     It  contains  almost  all  the  materials 
of    the   latter :  the   remarkable   tree,   the   serpent,    the 
degradation,  and  fall  of  man.     It  is,  then,  evident  that 
all  these  traits  are  not  specifically  Mosaic.     They  be- 
longed to  the  common  traditionary  lore  of  the  Asiatic 
nations.     They   cannot,   therefore,  be   esseiitial  in  the 
system  of  Mosaic  theology.      They  serve  to  represent 
ideas,  but  are  not  indispensable  for  them.     They  are  the 
vehicle  used  to  convey  certain  truths ;  but  these  truths 
might  have  been  expressed  in  a  thousand  other  shapes. 
The  truths  are  unchangeable  and  necessary,  the  form  is 


36 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


indifferent  and  accidental."  This  latter  remark  may  or 
may  not  be  correct,  but  it  completely  eats  away  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pentateuch. 

Edward  Clodd  tells  us,  in  his  admirable  work  entitled 
"  The  Childhood  of  Religions  "  (page  45),  that  "  the 
Tibetans  and  Mongolians  believe  that  the  first  human 
beings  were  as  gods ;  but,  desiring  a  certain  sweet  herb, 
they  ate  of  it,  and  lower  feelings  were  thus  aroused  within 
them;  their  wings  dropped  off;  their  beauty  faded; 
and  the  years  of  their  life  were  made  few  and  filled  with 
bitterness.  Passing  by  any  full  account  of  the  Hindoo 
story  of  a  tree  of  life  on  a  mountain  ever  bathed  in  sun- 
shine, where  no  sin  could  enter,  and  where  dreadful 
dragons  kept  the  way  to  the  heavenly  plants  and  fruits, 
and  also  of  the  Greek  belief  that  far  away  there  were 
the  islands  of  the  blessed,  with  a  garden  full  of  golden 
apples,  guarded  by  an  unsleeping  serpent,  we  have  the 
Greek  myth,  which  tells  us  that  the  first  men  were  happy 
and  without  work,  but  with  a  desire  to  assert  their 
power,  and,  withal,  defy  or  mock  the  gods.  Then  Pro- 
metheus shaped  a  human  form  out  of  clay,  and  stole 
forbidden  fire  from  heaven  wherewith  to  give  it  life. 
This  made  Zeus  angry,  and  he  laid  a  plan  by  which  the 
evils  that  mankind  dreaded,  and  which  were  sealed 
within  in  a  box,  guarded  by  Epimetheus,  the  brother  of 
Prometheus,  should  be  let  loose.  He  ordered  the  lord 
of  fire  to  fashion  the  first  woman,  who  by  her  charms 
should  bring  misery  to  man.  Then  the  gods  enriched 
her  with  beauty,  cunning,  and  fair  speech,  naming  her 
Pandora,  or  all-gifted ;  and  Zeus  took  her  to  Epimetheus, 
who,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  brother  to  accept 
nothing  from  the  gods,  made  her  his  wife,  so  smitten  was 
he  with  her  beautiful  face  and  so  beguiled  by  her  smooth 
words.  She  had  not  been  long  with  him  before  she 
opened  the  box,  whence  came  forth  strife  and  sick- 
ness, and  all  other  ills  that  afflict  mankind ;  and  then, 


OLD    TESTAMENT    MYTHS. 


37 


hastily  closing  it,  she  shut  up  hope  within,  so  that  no 
comfort  was  given  to  men." 

Other  religions  can  boast  of  their  stories  of  the  "  fall 
of  man,"  and  each  accounts  for  the  entrance  of  original 
sin  into  the  world  in  some  similar  childish  and  irrational 
fashion. 

Not  the  least  striking  feature  in  the  Bible  legends  is 
the  manifest  artlessness  with  which  myth  is  retailed  as 
sober  fact.  The  strange  eventful  romances  of  the  Flood 
and  the  Confusion  of  Tongues  were  recorded  as  genuine 
history.  The  writer  did  not  know  that  all  the  water  in 
all  the  oceans,  seas,  rivers,  and  lakes  would  have  been 
insufficient  to  cover  the  earth  to  the  height  of  the  moun- 
tain of  Ararat.  He  was  quite  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
other  nations  of  the  earth  had  their  stories  of  floods, 
and  that,  in  point  of  fact,  each  nation  that  was  visited 
by  an  inundation  regarded  it  in  the  light  of  a  universal 
deluge. 

In  respect  to  the  Confusion  of  Tongues,  the  writer 
was  so  supremely  naive  as  to  overlook  not  only  the  fact 
that  men  speaking  a  new  language  for  the  first  time 
w^ould  not  be  able  to  understand  each  other,  but  that 
each  would  not  be  able  to  understand  himself  He  did 
not  know  that  language  was  only  to  be  acquired  by  ex- 
perience— that  it  is  a  growth.  No  sensible  person  would 
have  expected  him  to  know  these  things,  if  it  had  not 
been  claimed  for  him  that  he  was  divinely  inspired.  But 
he  ought  to  have  known  a  myth  from  a  true  story,  just 
as  modern  writers  know  their  fictions  are  not  facts.  It 
would  require  a  man  to  be  a  very  practised  liar  before 
he  could  induce  himself  to  believe  in  his  own  lies.  It 
is  possible  to  come  across  such  a  person  occasionally  ; 
but  surely  deity  would  not  be  likely  to  select  such  a  one 
as  amanuensis. 

Another  writer,  Tuch,  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  Chaldean  myth  of  the  Flood.     He  says  :  "  Many 


3S 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


legends  of  a  Flood  are  handed  down  to  us  from  antiquity, 
which  represent  the  inundation  to  have  been  in  some 
cases  a  partial  one,  as  in  the  Samothracian  Flood  ('Diod. 
Sic.,' V.  47),  explaining  geographical  relations,  and  in  other 
cases  describe  it  as  a  general  flood  over  the  whole  earth. 
[There  is  no  ancient  Egyptian  legend  of  this  kind,  so 
that  Egypt  certainly  was  not  the  source  of  them.]  Greece 
furnishes  the  accounts  of  two.  In  one,  Oxyges  survives  a 
universal  flood,  which  had  covered  the  whole  surface  of 
the  earth  to  such  a  depth  that  he  conducts  his  vessel 
upon  the  waves  through  the  air.  The  other  Grecian 
legend,  which  relates  to  Deucalion,  is  more  complete, 
but,  like  that  of  Oxyges,  is  only  narrated  by  later  writers. 
Neither  Homer  nor  Hesiod  makes  any  mention  of  a 
Flood ;  and  even  Herodotus,  though  he  mentions  Deu- 
calion (i.  56),  does  not  connect  the  name  with  any 
inundation.  Pindar  first  mentions  Deucalion's  Flood 
('  Olymp.,'  ix.  62-71)  f  and  it  is  given  in  a  more  perfect 
form  by  Lucian  ('  De  Dea  Syr.,'  xii.,  xiii.).  The  object 
of  the  Hellenic  deluge  appears  to  have  been  the  annihi- 
lation of  the  brazen  race,  which,  according  to  Hesiod, 
perished  without  any  Flood.  The  race,  which  was 
destroyed,  had  acted  wickedly,  disregarded  oaths  and 
the  rights  of  hospitality,  attended  to  no  expostulations, 
and  in  the  end  became  necessarily  punished.  Jupiter 
sent  violent  torrents  of  rain,  and  the  earth,  says  Lucian, 
opened  in  order  to  let  the  immense  body  of  water  run 
off.  Deucalion,  the  only  righteous  man,  entered  the 
vessel  which  he  had  made,  with  his  wife  Pyrrha  [Luc, 

*  "  Man's  first  abode  Deucalion  reared, 
When  from  Parnassus'  glittering  crown, 
With  Pyrrha  paired,  the  Seer  came  down. 
Behind  them  rose  their  unborn  sons, 
The  new -named  laity  of  stones, 
A  homogeneous  mortal  throng. " 

— Moore's  ''Find.,"  i.  94. 


OLD   TESTAMENT   MYTHS. 


39 


"  with  his  wives  "],  and,  according  to  the  later  form  of 
the  legend,  took  with  him  diflerent  kinds  of  animals  in 
pairs.  After  nine  days  and  nine  nights  he  landed  on  the 
summit  of  Parnassus,  which  remained  uncovered  ('Paus.,' 
X.  6) ;  while  the  greatest  part  of  Greece  was  laid  under 
water,  so  that  only  a  few  men,  who  had  fled  to  the 
highest  mountains,  escaped  alive.  Plutarch  ('  De  Soil. 
Anim.,'  xiii.)  mentions  the  dove,  which  Deucalion  em- 
ployed to  find  out  if  the  rain  had  ceased  or  the  heavens 
had  become  clear."* 

Dean  Milman  gives  the  following  translation  of  ''  The 
Story  of  a  Fish,"  in  "  Nala  Damayanti,  and  Other  Poems,'' 
pp.  114,  115,  where  Manu  is  represented  as  addressed 
by  Brahma  in  the  form  of  a  fish  : — 

When  the  awful  time  approaches — hear  from  me  what  thou  must  do. 
In  a  little  time,  O  blessed  !  all  the  firm  and  seated  earth, 
All  that  moves  upon  its  surface,  shall  a  deluge  sweep  away. 
Near  it  comes — of  all  creation  the  ablution-day  is  near  ; 
Therefore,   what  I  now  forewarn   thee,  may  thy  highest  weal 

secure. 
All  the  fixed  and  all  the  moving,  all  that  stirs  or  stirreth  not, 
Lo  !  of  all  the  time  approaches,  the  tremendous  time  of  doom. 
Build  thyself  a  ship,  O  Manu,  strong,  with  cables  well  prepared  ; 
And  thyself,  with  the  seven  sages,  mighty  Manu,  enter  in. 
All  the  living  seeds  of  all  things,  by  the  Brahmins  named  of  yore, 
Place  them  first  within  the  vessel,  well  secured,  divided  well. 

*  »  ♦  ♦ 

Earth  was  seen  no  more,  no  region,  nor  the  intermediate  space ; 
All  around  a  waste  of  water — water  all,  and  air,  and  sky. 

"  In  the  whole  world  of  creation,  princely  son  of  Bharata  ! 
None  was  seen  but  those  seven  sages,  Manu  only  and  the  fish. 
Years  on  years,  and  still  unwearied,  drew  that  fish  the  bark  along. 
Till  at  length  it  came,  where  lifted  Himavan  its  loftiest  peak. 
There  at  length  it  came,  and,  smiling,  thus  the  fish  addressed  the 

sage : 
*  To  the  peak  of  Himalaya  bind  thou  now  the  stately  ship. ' 


Quoted  by  Bishop  Colenso,  "  Pentateuch,"  pp.  38c,  381. 


40 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


OLD    TESTAMENT    MYTHS. 


41 


At  the  fish's  mandate  quickly,  to  the  peak  of  Himavan 
Bound  the  sage  his  bark,  and  ever  to  this  day  that  loftiest  peak 
Bears  the  name  of  Naubandhana,  from  the  binding  of  the  bark." 

Writing  on  the  probable  origin  of  Aryan  myths,  Mr. 
Edward  Clodd,  in  his  admirable  book  already  referred 
to,  says  that  "  a  careful  study  shows  that  they  had  for 
the  larger  part  their  birth  in  the  ideas  called  forth  by 
the  changing  scenery  of  the  heavens  in  dawn  and  dusk, 
in  sunrise  and  sunset,  and  the  myriad  shades  and  fleeting 
forms   which   lie   between   them,  the   dawn  being   the 
source  of  the  richest  myths.     Of  course  every  myth  and 
legend  is  not  to  be  thus  accounted  for,  because  that 
which  is  human  and  personal  takes  shape  and  substance 
likewise.     The  mood  of  mind  caused  by  things  sad  or 
joyful  in  the  life  of  man ;  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  the  knowledge  that  within  us  the  battle  between 
these  two  is  being  fought ;  these,  w^hich  are  to  those  who 
feel  deeply  more  real  than  even  sunrises  and  sunsets, 
have  had  a  large  share  in  adding  to  the  legends  which 
make  us  creep  closer  to  the  light  and   move  now   to 
laughter  and  now  to  tears.     Then  many  events  of  history 
have  been  so   misunderstood  as   to  become  mythical. 
Fable  has  been  promoted  into  history ;  history  has  been 
lowered  into  fable ;  and  history  and  fable  have  been  mixed 
and  gathered  round  great  names,  such  as  Cyrus,  Charle- 
magne, and  by  far  greater  names  than  theirs." 

Again,  in  his  "Childhood  of  the  World,"  Mr. 
Clodd  says,  in  writing  on  myths:  "In  seeking  to  account 
for  the  kind  of  life  which  seemed  to  be  (and  really  was, 
although  not  as  he  thought  of  it)  in  all  things  around, 
man  shaped  the  most  curious  notions  into  the  forms  of 
myths,  by  which  is  meant  a  fanciful  story,  founded  on 
something  real.  If  to  us  a  boat  or  a  ship  becomes  a 
sort  of  personal  thing,  especially  when  named  after  any- 
one ;  if  '  Jack  Frost '  and  '  Old  Father  Christmas,'  which 


are  but  names,  seem  also  persons  to  the  mind  of  a  little 
child,  we  may  readily  see  how  natural  it  is  for  savages 
to  think  that  the  flame  licking  up  the  wood  is  a  living 
thing  whose  head  could  be  cut  off";  to  believe  that  the 
gnawing  feeling  of  hunger  is  caused  by  a  lizard  or  a  bird 
in  the  stomach ;  to  imagine  that  the  echoes  which  the  hills 
threw  back  came  from  the  dwarfs  who  dw^elt  among 
them,  an^  that  the  thunder  was  the  rumbling  of  the 
heaven  god's  chariot  wheels." 

The  story  of  Samson  slaying  the  Philistines  is  decidedly 
mythical.  Samson  is  a  sun  god.  With  his  great  strength 
he  overcomes  the  evil  monsters  of  darkness  and  cruelty. 
The  story  of  Jonah's  interesting  visit  to  Nineveh,  and 
his  three  nights'  lodging  in  the  interior  of  a  great  fish, 
is  also  a  tale  built  upon  a  sun  myth — a  myth  describing 
the  phenomenon  of  night  devouring  the  sun.  There 
are  numerous  other  myths  in  the  Bible,  and  many  of  them 
have  an  interesting  story  cleverly  interwoven  with  them. 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  the  mythical  period, 
the  age  w^hen  such  stories  had  their  beauty  and  utility, 
has  long  passed ;  it  was,  indeed,  a  very  remote  period 
in  the  world's  history — the  "babyhood  of  the  world." 
Then  everything  bore  a  mythical  aspect.  The  sun  was 
regarded  as  a  living  being  ;  so  w^as  the  moon  ;  and  the 
stars  were  considered  to  be  the  children  of  the  sun,  which 
he  only  allowed  to  be  seen  at  night. 

Many  of  the  nursery  stories  of  to-day  have  their  origin 
in  ancient  myths;  and  at  Christmas  time,  when  our 
children  are  being  amused  at  the  theatre  in  witnessing 
the  ever-welcome  pantomime,  they  little  know  that  their 
favourite  stories  of  "Jack  the  Giant-Killer,"  "Cinderella 
and  the  Glass  Slipper,"  and  "  Little  Red  Riding  Hood," 
upon  which  the  burlesque  part  of  the  pantomime  is 
built,  are  but  old  Aryan,  Chinese,  and  Greek  myths, 
which  have  been  clothed  in  manifold  forms  by  the  various 
nations  of  the  earth. 


« ~- 


42 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


#* 


And  just  as  in  youth  we  outgrow  these  simple,  childish 
stories,  and  in  manhood  require  something  more  real, 
more  true  to  nature,  even  in  professed  fiction,  so  the 
maturer  mind  of  modern  civilisation  rejects  the  puerili- 
ties which  satisfied  men  in  earlier  days,  and  requires 
more  substantial  food,  which  can  be  found  only  by  a 
diligent  study  of  nature.  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
acquisition  and  application  of  such  knowledge  have  built 
up  a  world  more  wonderful  and  beautiful  than  was  ever 
depicted  even  in  the  myths  and  fables  of  old. 


I 


¥*' 


CHAPTER    v. 

UNHISTORICAL   CHARACTER   OF  THE  OLD 

TESTAMENT. 

Colenso  on  the  Pentateuch — The  Patriarchs — The  Exodus 
— Miraculous  Gluttony — Balaam's  Ass — ''''Guesses  after 
Truth:' 

In  the  introductory  chapter  to  his  searching  examination 
of  the  Pentateuch,  Bishop  Colenso  writes  these  very  signi- 
ficant words :  "The  result  of  my  inquiry  is  this,  that  I  have 
arrived  at  the  conviction — as  painful  to  myself  at  first  as 
it  may  be  to  my  reader,  though  painful  now  no  longer 
under  the  clear  shining  of  the  light  of  truth — that  the 
Pentateuch,  as  a  whole,  cannot  possibly  have  been 
written  by  Moses  or  by  anyone  acquainted  personally 
with  the  facts  which  it  professes  to  describe,  and,  further, 
that  the  (so-called)  Mosaic  narrative,  by  whomsoever 
written,  and  though  imparting  to  us,  as  I  fully  believe  it 
does,  revelations  of  the  Divine  will  and  character,  cannot 
be  regarded  as  historically  true."  In  our  previous 
chapters  we  have  shown  that,  whatever  "  revelations  " 
the  Bible  imparts,  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  scientifically 
true. 

Is  it  historically  true  ?  Colenso  says  not,  though  his 
ecclesiastical  position,  his  worldly  interests,  his  early 
education,  all  invited  him  to  accept,  without  inconvenient 
inquiry,  the  literal  veracity  of  the  Scripture.  Yet,  to 
this  brave  divine,  truth  was  of  more  importance  than  the 
Scripture,  even  though  it  bore  the  stamp  of  alleged 
Divine  authority. 

History,    forsooth  !      Who   that   has   cast   away   the 


V 


44 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


Spectacles  of  faith,  and  opened  wide  the  eyes  of  reason, 
could  so  set  at  naught  natural  probabilities  and  the 
testimony  of  experience  as  to  receive  the  Bible  as 
historically  true  ?  History  means — if  it  means  anything 
at  all — a  faithful  narrative  of  events  that  have  happened, 
stated  exactly  in  the  order  in  which  they  have  occurred, 
without  any  fictitious  adornments  to  make  them  pleasant, 
interesting,  or  palatable  reading. 

No  doubt  the  writers  of  Genesis  believed  that  God 
made  man  in  his  own  image  a  few  thousand  years  ago  ; 
but  their  belief  did  not  make  it  a  fact.  And  if  God  did 
not  create  man  as  man,  but  imparted  the  potency  and 
promise  of  all  forms  of  life  to  masses  of  protoplasm, 
then,  in  this  respect.  Genesis  is  wrong  and  unhistoric. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  God  made  man  perfect,  it  is  folly 
to  talk  of  a  perfect  man  doing  something  that  showed 
him  to  be  imperfect. 

Nor  can  it  be  regarded  as  historically  true  that  Adam 
lived  for  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years,  or  Methuselah 
for  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years,  without  the 
supposition  that  years  did  not  mean,  in  those  days,  so 
long  a  period  of  time  as  they  do  now,  or  that  human 
beings  had  a  materially  different  kind  of  organisation 
from  ours — suppositions  for  which  there  is  not  the 
slightest  warranty  in  fact. 

Then  how  could  we  regard  it  as  historically  true  that 
Cain  went  into  the  land  of  Nod  and  married  a  woman 
who  was  not  his  mother,  when  there  was  no  other 
woman  in  existence  ? 

The  story  of  the  flood,  whether  regarded  as  universal 
or  local,  is  too  ludicrously  absurd  to  be  seriously  dis- 
cussed. The  myriads  of  species  of  animals  of  all  climes 
could  not  have  been  brought  within  the  dimensions  of 
Noah's  Ark ;  to  say  nothing  of  their  provender. 

To  the  legend  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  we  need 
not  devote  any  grave  consideration.     It  represents  an 


-  ^ 


UNHISTORICAL  CHARACTER   OF   THE  OLD   TESTAMENT.    45 

omniscient  God  coming  down  to  ascertain  the  truth  of 
hearsay  information,  and  confounding  the  tongues  of  the 
people  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  doing  what  he 
must  have  known  was  an  impossibility — that  is,  building 
a  tower  that  should  reach  to  heaven. 

The  lives  of  the  patriarchs — Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob — 
are  purely  mythical,  founded,  for  the  most  part,  upon 
astrological  phenomena. 

The  story  of  Abraham  preparing  to  plunge  a  dagger 
into  the  heart  of  his  only  son,  to  demonstrate  his  faith 
in  Jahveh,  and  the  romantic  narrative  of  Joseph's  treat- 
ment by  his  brethren,  and  his  subsequent  triumph  over 
them  in  Egypt,  may  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  primitive 
dramas  ;  they  are  certainly  not  historical  truths. 

When  we  come  to  Exodus  we  are  confronted  with 
even  more  extraordinary  narratives  than  those  in  Genesis. 
The  poor  Egyptians,  who,  in  their  history,  experienced  the 
most  appalling  injustice  from  various  nations,  never, 
happily  for  them,  suffered  the  infliction  of  the  horrible 
plagues  said  to  have  been  wrought  by  Moses  at  the 
express  command  of  Jehovah.  It  may  be  safely  affirmed 
that  the  heart  of  Pharaoh — stony  as  it  may  have  been 
— was  never  hard  enough  to  suffer  all  the  land  of  Egypt 
to  be  covered  with  noisome  vermin,  and  then,  in  order 
that  his  magicians  might  show  their  power,  call  upon 
them  to  produce  more.  It  would  be  equally  safe  to 
assert  that  the  plagues  of  Egypt  did  not  kill  the  same 
cattle  many  times  over,  and  that  the  Israelites  could  not 
have  maintained  vast  multitudes  of  cattle  in  the  wilder- 
ness, "  a  land  of  deserts  and  pits,  a  land  of  drought  and 
of  the  shadow  of  death  "  (Jer.  ii.  6). 

In  a  community  of  two  million  people  Colenso  calcu- 
lates that  about  264  children  would  be  born  every  day, 
and,  as  the  birth-offerings  were,  by  Divine  command,  to 
be  consumed  by  Aaron  and  his  two  sons,  each  of  the  three 
priests  must  have  devoured  eighty-eight  pigeons  daily. 


46 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


L 


When,  in  addition  to  the  pigeons,  they  were  required 
to  eat  an  ox  or  two  apiece,  we  may  respectfully  object 
that,  however  capacious  the  stomachs  of  priests  were  in 
those  days,  our  capacity  for  behef  is  not  quite  so  large. 

To  record  all  the  unhistoric  statements  in  the  Old 
Testament  would  require  a  volume  almost  as  large  as  the 
holy  book  itself.  I  must  be  satisfied,  therefore,  to  name 
a  few  events  which,  I  think,  fairly  come  under  the 
above  category. 

Let  me  state  here  frankly  that  I  do  not  think  it  is 
historically  true  that  Jehovah,  in  a  paroxysm  of  passion, 
begged  Moses  to  "  let  me  alone  that  my  wrath  may  wax 
hot  against  them"— the  Israelites— (Ex.  xxxii.  lo),  or 
that  Moses  spoke  to  God  "  face  to  face  as  a  man  speaketh 
to  his  friend,"  or  even  that  he  was  privileged  to  have  a 
back  view  of  deity  (Ex.  xxxiii.  ii,  20-23). 

In  Numbers  we  come  across  the  story  of  Balaam  and 
the  intelligent  quadruped  that  saw  an   angel.     It  has 
been  said  that  asses  are  the  only  creatures  that  ever  have 
seen  an  angel ;  but  Balaam's  ass  not  only  saw  an  angel, 
but  admonished  a  prophet.     If  the  historian  who  con- 
tributed this  enlivening  episode  to  the  book  of  Numbers 
had  but  enlightened  us  on  one  or  two  points,  we  might, 
like  Agrippa,  have  been  "  almost  persuaded  "  to  believe 
it.     For  example,  he  might  have  told  us  in  what  language 
or  dialect  the  ass  spoke,  at  what  school  he  acquired  it, 
and  what  professor  taught  him.     In  the  absence  of  such 
details  I  feel  bound  to  pronounce  this  story  as  unhistoric, 
though  I  dare  declare  that  I  have  myself  heard  many  a 
theological  ass  speak.     The  story  of  Balaam   is  merely 
ridiculous  ;  but  the  contents  of  the  thirty-first  chapter  of 
Numbers  are  ghastly.     It  would  ill  fare  with  human- 
kind  if  the   directions   therein  given  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  war  were  really  revelations  of  the  Divine  will  and 
character. 

Of  Joshua  I  need  only  say  that,  when  he  called  upon 


#. 


UNHISTORICAL  CHARACTER  OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.    47 

the  sun  to  stand  still,   he  did  what  Owen  Glendower 
might  have  done  with  as  good  a  result. 

It  is  not  historically  true  that  Samson  slew  a  thousand 
people  with  the  jawbone  of  an  ass.  The  revised  version 
makes  Samson  recount  his  exploit  in  verse  (Judges 
XV.  16).  It  was,  perhaps,  his  poetical  jawbone  that 
overcame  the  multitude.  It  was,  possibly,  also  in  a 
poetical  and  figurative  sense  that  Samson  at  his  death 
pulled  down  the  house  upon  the  heads  of  the  Philistines. 
Samson  *'  brought  down  the  house  "  in  the  same  way  as 
the  actor — with  laughter  or  applause ;  nothing  more. 

As  to  how  much,  or  how  little,  of  such  books  as 
Samuel,  Kings,  and  Chronicles  is  literally  true,  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell ;  but  it  will  be  obvious,  after  a  careful 
perusal  of  them,  that  they  are  largely  leavened  with  the 
fabulous.  Such  dramatic  and  poetical  writings  as  Job, 
Isaiah,  and  Proverbs  will  be  dealt  with  hereafter.  There 
is  little  to  be  said  in  reference  to  their  historical  value. 
But,  in  the  light  of  evolution,  the  whole  of  these  books 
or  pamphlets,  and  others  which  are  comprised  within  the 
covers  of  the  Bible,  have,  like  the  sacred  books  of  other 
nations,  great  value  to  the  seeker  after  truth. 

The  book  of  Genesis  is  a  puerile  production  if  com- 
pared with  the  scientific  and  historical  works  of  to-day. 
Taken  as  revelations  from  God,  Exodus  is  full  of  fictions 
and  follies.     Joshua  and  Judges  are  ludicrous  and  bar- 
barous.    But,  if  these  productions  are  regarded,  as  they 
should  be  by  all  sensible  men,  as  earnest  guesses  after 
truth  by  our  early  ancestors,  they  contain  for  us   much 
that  is  valuable,  much  that  is  bright  and  even  beautiful. 
They  contain,  indeed,  the  stepping-stones  to  knowledge 
upon  which  philosophers  and  scientists  in  subsequent 
ages  planted  their  feet,  and  which  helped  to  those  notable 
successes  which  have  done  so  much  to  brighten  the  lives 
and  enrich  the  minds  of  mankind  in  their  struggling 
pilgrimage  through  the  world. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

BIBLE  MORALITY. 

Polygamy  Sanctioned^Hebreiv  Slavery—Belief  ifi  Witch- 
craft — New  Testament  Morality  an  Advance  upon  that 
of  the  Old  Testament,  but  Still  Imperfect— The  Golden 
Rule — The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  Criticised — Self- 
mutilation — Abandonment  of  Home — The  Curse  on 
Unbelievers — Modern  Christians  Refuse  to  Obey  Jesus. 

With  its  false  science,  its  inaccurate  history,  its  won- 
derful and  incredible  stories,  laid  bare,  one  would  be 
disposed  to  say  that  such    an  indictment  was   strong 
enough  without  going  further  to  demonstrate   conclu- 
sively  the   human    origin    of  the    Bible.     But  we  will 
proceed  one  stage  further,  and  make  an  examination 
into  the  morality  of  the   Bible.     What  shall  we   find  ? 
We  shall  find  that,  on  the  assumption  that  the  Bible  is 
God's  word,   the  moral  difficulties  are  a  thousandfold 
more  difficult  of  explanation  than  all  the  scientific  and 
historical   ones   put   together.     We   have   a   God   who 
sanctions  and  gives  encouragement  to  the  most  horrible 
of  crimes  ;  who  promotes  wars  against  inoffensive  and 
defenceless  peoples  ;  who  favours  slavery,  smiles  approval 
upon    polygamy,    and   connives   at  atrocities  the  most 
abhorrent  and  revolting  that  we  have  any  record  of  in 
the  history  of  the  world.     Let  us  look  at  these  charges 
more  closely,  and  state  the  evidence  upon  which  they 
rest. 
Polygamy.— T\iTOM^OM\.  the  Pentateuch  the  institution 


BIBLE    MORALITY. 


49 


of  polygamy  is  not  only  sanctioned,  but  is  regarded  as 
consistent  with  the  highest  virtue.    For  instance,  Abraham 
had  a  wife  and  several  concubines,  and  the  latter  were 
regarded  in  the  light  of  "  goods  and  chattels."     Soon 
after  Sarai  had  given  birth  to  Isaac  she  appears  to  have 
had  a  difference  with  her  husband  concerning  Hagar,  "  a 
bondwoman,"  and  her  child  Ishmael ;  and  the  result  of 
this  domestic  scene  was  that  Abraham  turned  Hagar, 
who  was  as  much  his  wife  as  Sarai,  and  this  boy,  who 
was  really  his  own  child,  adrift  into  the  wilderness  to 
die;  in  which  conduct  we  find  that  Jahveh  not  only 
acquiesced,  but  gave  it  his  distinct  approval.     The  great 
patriarchs  were  polygamists,  and  the  writers  of  the  Old 
Testament   appear   to    have   agreed    that    this    was    an 
inspired  institution.     Now,  can  it  be  possible  that  an 
infinite  and  all-wise  ruler  of  the  universe  was  ever  in 
favour  of  polygamy  ?     Can  it  be  possible  that  he  ever 
regarded  this  as  the  purest  method  for  the  propagation 
of  the  human  species  ?     Even  on  scientific  grounds  he 
ought  to  have  known  that  such  an  institution  was  des- 
tructive of  the  races  that  adopted  it.     On  the  ground  of 
purity  he  ought  to  have  vigorously  opposed  it.     But  he 
did  not.     Why  ?     Because  the  Jews  were  in  favour  of 
it  j  and  the  Jews  accepted  it  as  an  institution  simply 
because  they  found  other  races  practised  it  before  them. 
Slavery. — Jahveh  was  in  favour  of  slavery.     If  he  did 
not  originate  this  institution,  he  certainly  commanded 
the  Jews  to  practise  it  towards  alien  races.     Can  there 
be  any  doubt  of  this  ?     Let  us  see.     In  Lev.  xxv.  44-46 
we  find :    "  Both    thy  bondmen,   and    thy  bondmaids, 
which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are 
round  about  you ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and 
bondmaids.     Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers 
that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and 
of  their  families  that  are  with  you,  which   they  begat  in 
your  land  :  and  they  shall  be  your  possession.     And  ye 


^ 


'I 


50 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children  after 
you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession ;  they  shall  be  your 
bondmen  forever." 

And  again,  in  Ex.  xxi.  2-6  :  ''  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew 
servant,  six  years  he  shall  serve ;  and  in  the  seventh  he 
shall  go  out  free  for  nothing.  If  he  came  in  by  himself, 
he  shall  go  out  by  himself :  if  he  were  married,  then  his 
wife  shall  go  out  with  him.  If  his  master  have  given 
him  a  wife,  and  she  have  born  him  sons  or  daughters, 
the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  her  master's,  and  he 
shall  go  out  by  himself.  And  if  the  servant  shall  plainly 
say,  I  love  my  master,  my  wife,  and  my  children ;  I  will 
not  go  out  free  :  Then  his  master  shall  bring  him  unto 
the  judges  ;  he  shall  also  bring  him  to  the  door,  or  unto 
the  door-post ;  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through 
with  an  aul  ;  and  he  shall  serve  him  forever." 

Here  is  an  ordinance  of  yet  deeper  dye :  "  If  a  man 
smite  his  servant,  or  his  maid,  with  a  rod,  and  he  die 
under  his  hand,  he  shall  be  surely  punished.  Notwith- 
standing, if  he  continue  a  day  or  two,  he  shall  not  be 
punished  :  for  he  is  his  money"  (v.  20,  21). 

To-day  we  revolt  at  this  horrible  teaching  as  much  as 
the  'S-er>'  intelligent  Christian  native"  who  read  the 
passage  for  the  first  time  when  he  was  assisting  the  late 
Bishop  Colenso  to  translate  the  Bible  into  the  Zulu 
tongue.  But  here  we  have  the  inspired  word  just  as  it 
was  written  by  specially-selected  amanuenses ;  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Jahveh  at  one  time  was  in  favour 
of  slavery.  But  why  did  he  sanction  this  barbarous  and 
brutal  institution  ?  Because  the  Jews  were  in  favour  of 
it.  The  Pentateuch  was  written  by  Jews,  and  merely 
expresses  the  opinions  then  current  among  the  Hebrews  ; 
nothing  more. 

Witchcraft.— T\\^\  Jahveh  believed  in  witchcraft,  if  he 
believed  in  anything  at  all,  is  clear  enough  from  the 
following   passage  in  Ex.  xxii.   18:    "Thou   shalt   not 


BIBLE    MORALITY. 


51 


i 


suffer  a  witch  to  live."  Under  this  injunction  thousands 
of  poor  creatures  have  been  subjected  to  the  most  hor- 
rible treatment,  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  being  put  to 
death  as  witches  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies in  Germany  alone,  not  to  mention  the  thousands 
in  England  and  Scotland  during  the  same  period  who 
were  either  burnt  at  the  stake  or  drowned  for  the  same 
alleged  offence. 

We  have  seen  that  the  morality  of  the  Pentateuch  and 
of  the  other  Hebrew  writings  comprised  within  the  pages 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  of  a  very  low  order,  embracing 
as  it  does  such  horrible  and  degrading  teachings  as  the 
physical  and  intellectual  enslavement  of  one  portion  of 
the  community  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  other, 
aggressive  warfare  upon  inoffensive  and  defenceless 
peoples,  polygamy,  belief  in  witchcraft,  and  a  number  of 
other  absurdities  and  barbarities  which  need  only  be 
mentioned  to  be  condemned.  On  the  assumption  that 
man  is  an  animal  who  has,  by  a  gradual  and  painful 
process,  evolved  out  of  barbarism  by  adjusting  himself 
to  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  life,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  how  in  one  age  a  set  of  actions  would  be 
regarded  as  moral  which  in  another  age  would  be  con- 
sidered highly  immoral ;  how  slavery  would  be  a  perfectly 
natural  condition  of  things  in  a  society  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  savages  ;  and  how  superior  races  could 
hope  to  survive  in  the  struggle  only  by  conquering  and 
putting  into  subjection  inferior  peoples.  This  mode  of 
explanation,  however,  the  Christian  prohibits  us  from 
adopting,  alleging  that  his  Bible  contains  the  highest 
conceivable  morality ;  a  morality  proceeding  from  the 
highest  source,  the  fountain  of  all  truth  in  word  and 
deed — in  short,  that  the  Bible  contains  the  "  beginning 
and  end  of  all  wisdom,"  and  any  attempt  to  improve 
upon  it  must  end  in  disastrous  failure.  Now,  if  we  turn 
from  the  Old  to  the  New  Testament,  we  shall  find  a 


52 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


distinct  improvement  in  the  character  of  the  teaching ; 
for,  amid  much  that  is  incongruous,  incredible,  absurd, 
and  unnatural,  we  shall  find  principles  enunciated  of  a 
loftier,  more  humane,  and  more  useful  character  than 
anything  to  be  found  in  the  earlier  Hebrew  writings. 
Not  that  we  shall  find  a  perfect  code  of  morals  in  the 
teachings  of  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth.  The  Free- 
thinker does  not  expect  perfection  in  anything.  Per- 
fection to  him  is  but  a  relative  term.  One  thing  may 
be  more  perfect  than  another ;  but  absolute  perfection 
is  inconceivable.  The  Christian,  however,  is  bound  to 
believe  that  the  doctrines  of  Christ  are  in  every  respect 
faultless  ;  that  in  no  stage  of  the  world's  progress  can 
they  be  improved  upon.  To  this  declaration  the  Free- 
thinker gives  an  emphatic  denial. 

What  are  the  distinctive  moral  teachings  of  Jesus  ? 
Without  a  doubt  many  of  the  most  important  teachings 
attributed  to  Jesus,  and  some  of  the  best  among  them, 
can  be  traced  back  to  a  period  long  anterior  to  the 
alleged  birth  of  Christ.  The  Golden  Rule,  "  Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  they  should  do  unto  you,"  was 
taught  by  Confucius  hundreds  of  years  before  Jesus 
commenced  his  mission  among  the  Jews — assuming  for 
the  nonce  that  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels  is  an  historical 
personage  about  whose  existence  there  can  be  no 
manner  of  doubt.  Many  doctrines  attributed  to  Jesus 
are  also  attributed  to  Zoroaster  and  Buddha,  both  of 
whom  lived  before  him. 

The  distinctive  teachings  of  Jesus  are  not  by  any 
means  new  ;  but  those  of  them  which  are  most  original 
appear  also  to  be  most  harmful  in  their  tendency. 
Some  portion  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  may  be 
regarded  as  very  good  sentiment,  but,  as  moral  teaching, 
quite  impracticable  in  an  age  of  civilisation  and  pro- 
gress. 

Now,  the  true  value  of  a  moral  precept  may  be  tested 


BIBLE    MORALITY. 


53 


•*,  »♦ 


by  this  principle :  that  it  should  be  susceptible  of  being 
put  into  practice  in  every-day  life  not  only  without  injury, 
but  with  positive  benefit,  to  the  community.  Many  of 
the  doctrines  of  Jesus  lack  this  essential  quality.  They 
may  have  been  well  adapted  to  such  an  age  as  that  in 
which  he  is  alleged  to  have  lived,  but  they  are  quite 
unsuited  to  the  present  condition  of  society  in  all  the 
civilised  countries  of  the  world. 

Passive  submission  to  insult  and  ill  treatment  cannot 
be  regarded  as  good  morality.     To  submit  to  insult  or 
ill  treatment  when  they  can  be  resisted  and  prevented  is 
a  sign  of  weakness  or  folly.     Such  conduct  gives   the 
ruffian  the  power   to  ride  rough-shod  over  his  weaker 
brethren  whenever  opportunity  allows.     Yet  Jesus  said  : 
"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  :  An  eye  for  an 
eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.     But  I  say  unto  you.  That 
ye  resist  not  evil ;  but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the 
right  cheek  turn  to  him  the  other  also.     And  if  any  man 
will  sue  thee  at  law,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him 
have  thy  cloak  also.     And  whoever  shall  compel  thee  to 
go  a  mile,  go  with  him  twain  "  (Matt.  v.  38-41).     If  our 
ancestors  had  always  adopted  this  course,  we  should  be 
slaves  to-day.      If  the  honest  man,  when   robbed   and 
smitten  by  the  thief,  should  turn  the  other  cheek,  or  offer 
his  cloak  when  his  coat  had  been  taken,  he  would  be 
positively  promoting  rascality. 

Jesus  gave  utterance  to  a  number  of  other  very  un- 
reasonable doctrines.  For  example,  "Blessed  be  ye 
poor,  for  yours  is  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Luke  vi.  20). 
When  was  it  blessed  to  be  poor?  Not  during  the 
nineteenth  century,  certainly.  It  is  extremely  doubtful 
if  poverty  is  ever  a  blessing;  and  "poverty  of  spirit," 
which  Jesus  also  advised,  is  a  decided  curse. 

"Blessed  are  ye  that  hunger  now,  for  ye  shall  be 
filled  "  (Luke  vi.  21).  When  ?  In  the  next  world,  when 
they  will  have  no  stomachs  to  fill.     That  is  a  little  too 


54 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


late ;  those  who  starve  in  this  world  are  not  likely  to  get 
a  place  at  the  festive  board  in  the  next. 

"  But  woe  unto  you  that  are  rich,  for  ye  have  received 
your  consolation.  Woe  unto  you  that  are  full,  for  ye 
shall  hunger.  Woe  unto  you  that  laugh  now,  for  ye  shall 
mourn  and  weep.  Woe  unto  you  when  all  men  shall 
speak  well  of  you,  for  so  did  their  fathers  to  the  false 
prophets.  But  I  say  unto  you  which  hear.  Love  your 
enemies,  do  good  to  them  which  hate  you.  Bless  them 
that  curse  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use 
you.  And  unto  him  that  smiteth  thee  on  the  one  cheek, 
offer  also  the  other ;  and  him  that  taketh  away  thy  cloke, 
forbid  him  not  to  take  thy  coat  also.  Give  to  every  man 
that  asketh  of  thee,  and  of  him  that  taketh  away  thy 
goods  ask  them  not  again"  (Luke  vi.  24-30).  What 
would  be  the  effect  of  this  morality  if  put  into  practice 
in  every-day  life  ?  Would  it  not  destroy  the  foundation 
upon  which  all  society  rests  ?  How  is  it  possible  to  love 
our  enemies?  It  is  difficult  at  times  to  love  one's 
friends  ;  but  our  enemies — how  can  we  love  them  while 
we  know  them  to  be  our  enemies?  Jesus  either  did 
not  understand  human  nature  with  a  "  wise  and  learned 
spirit,"  or  he  has  been  misrepresented  or  misunderstood 
by  his  biographers  and  followers. 

Equally  mischievous  is  the  following  teaching  :  "  Take 
no  thought  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye 
shall  drink  :  nor  yet  for  your  body  what  ye  shall  put  on. 
Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air,"  etc.  (Matt.  vi.  25). 

The  poor  man  who  takes  no  thought  for  the  morrow 
in  modern  times  soon  finds  himself  an  inmate  either  of 
the  workhouse  or  of  the  gaol.  Indeed,  the  civilised  man 
is  distinguished  from  the  uncivilised  in  this  :  that  while 
the  latter  is  content  when  he  has  obtained  food  enough 
to  satisfy  his  immediate  wants,  the  former  looks  ahead 
and  makes  provision  for  months  or  even  years. 

"Lay  not    up  for   yourselves    treasures  upon   earth, 


BIBLE   MORALITY. 


55 


M^ 


where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
break  through  and  steal "  (Matt.  vi.  19).  With  banks, 
insurance  companies,  and  provident  societies  by  the 
score  in  our  midst,  how  is  it  possible  for  Christians  to 
say  they  practise  the  above  teaching  ?  Moreover,  wealthy 
Christians  should  always  remember  that  "  It  is  easier  for 
a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a 
rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Matt.  xix. 
24).  Many  of  them  by  their  conduct  seem  to  say  that 
they  will  venture  the  risk  ;  or,  at  worst,  that  "  a  bird  in 
the  hand  is  worth  two  in  a  bush." 

Jesus  also  taught  self-mutilation.  ''  If  thine  eye  offend 
thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee ;  it  is  better  for 
thee  to  enter  into  life  with  one  eye,  rather  than,  having 
two  eyes,  to  be  cast  into  hell."  And  the  same  with 
regard  to  hands  and  feet  (Matt,  xviii.  8,  9).  This  doc- 
trine is  practised  at  times  by  madmen  or  religious  enthu- 
siasts even  to-day ;  but  it  was  very  frequently  practised 
in  the  Dark  Ages.  He  also  expressed  his  approval  of 
those  who  "  made  themselves  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven's  sake"  (Matt.  xix.  12).  A  sect  in  Russia, 
known  as  the  Skopski,  practise  this  form  of  mutilation 
as  a  Divine  injunction. 

Jesus  outraged  all  the  tender  feelings  of  humanity  when 
he  declared  that  *'  everyone  that  hath  forsaken  houses, 
or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or 
children,  or  lands,  for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an 
hundredfold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting  life "  (Matt. 
xix.  29).  When  to  these  we  add  the  doctrine  of  "  He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned"  (Mark  xvi.  16),  we  have 
put  into  a  small  compass  the  distinctive  moral  teachings 
of  Jesus.  No  teaching  that  I  have  any  knowledge  of 
has  been  so  productive  of  evil  as  this  last.  By  making 
belief  a  virtue  and  unbelief  a  vice,  it  has  been  the  main- 
spring of  persecution  for  hundreds  of  years.     It    has 


,*■> 


56 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


Strangled  science  and  thwarted  progress.  Christians  who 
unfeignedly  believe  in  this  doctrine  persecute  wherever 
they  have  the  power. 

The  general  doctrines  of  Christianity  have  undergone 
many  changes,  and  in  some  cases  and  among  some 
sects  litde  except  the  name  survives.  Christianity,  like 
all  other  religions,  has  been  powerless  to  resist  the 
ceaseless  tendency  in  nature  and  in  man  to  change.  In 
practice,  Christianity  to-day  is  the  very  antithesis  of  what 
it  was  in  the  time  of  Jesus.  Christians  strive  hard  to 
get  rich,  despite  the  denunciation  of  their  master.  They 
appeal  to  the  police  for  assistance  when  they  are  smitten, 
and  often  before  they  get  the  blow.  They  never  part 
with  their  cloak  when  their  coat  is  taken.  They  hate 
their  enemies  as  vigorously  as  any  pagan  ;  and  they  lay 
up  their  treasures  on  earth,  and  often  cheat  other  people 
out  of  theirs,  as  though  they  did  not  believe  in  another 
world  from  which  all  thieves  (except  David)  will  be  un- 
ceremoniously excluded. 

How  is  this?  It  is  because  human  thought  has 
grown ;  because  science  has  increased  ;  because  men 
think  more  and  believe  less  ;  because  men  have  found 
that  the  moral  doctrines  of  Jesus  meant  moral  suicide ; 
because  the  affairs  of  this  world  engage  their  attention, 
instead  of  the  affairs  of  the  next— in  a  word,  because, 
in  the  evolution  of  things,  so-called  Christianity  has 
changed  into  Rationalism,  while  still  retaining  the  old 
name.  The  evolutionary  process  affects  all  things.  It 
is  a  law  of  our  being  that  we  must  grow,  must  evolve, 

or  decay. 

The  doctrines  of  Jesus  to-day  are  regarded  as  imprac- 
ticable, for  we  have  outgrown  them  ;  and  their  preserva- 
tion in  religious  literature  serves  only  to  mark  the  pro- 
gress we  have  made. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


BIBLE  MIRACLES. 


Eve  and  the  Serpent — The  Flood — Elijah^ s  Fiery  Chariot 
—  The  Shunammite's  Son — Miracles  Worked  by  Jesus 
— Devils  or  Fits  ? — -Jesus  Compared  with  Miranda — 
Healing  the  Blind — Agnes  Rollo  Wilkie  and  the 
Baskets  of  Wisdom — Lazarus — The  Book  of  the  Ads, 

Some  of  the  Bible  miracles  are  great  conceptions,  such 
as  the  creation  of  the  world  and  the  production  of  organic 
beings  at  the  command  of  Jahveh ;  but  others  are  ex- 
tremely small,  such  as  the  story  of  Jonah's  lying  for  three 
days  and  three  nights  in  the  stomach  of  a  big  fish. 
Others  are  stupid ;  some  are  serious,  but  horrible.  A 
few  would  have  been  useful  if  true  ;  while  many  are 
unworthy  of  a  clever  prestidigitator.  It  is  now  generally 
admitted  that  there  is  a  perceptible  evolution  in  the 
ideas  of  the  Bible  writers  as  to  what  a  real  miracle 
ought  to  be.  And  ultimately  even  miracles  have  to  be 
brought  to  the  touchstone  of  common  sense  and  utility. 
But  let  us  glance  for  a  while  at  the  miracles  of  the  Bible, 
and  see  what  they  are. 

The  writer  of  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis,  for  example, 
thought  there  was  nothing  very  remarkable  in  a  "  subtile  " 
animal  like  the  serpent  carrying  on  a  conversation  with 
a  lady,  though  the  writer  does  not  say  who  gave  the 
serpent  an  introduction  to  Eve,  or  whether  he  opened 
the  conversation  in  the  customary  way  of  ''  Good 
evening.  Madam.  Fine  day,  is  it  not  ?"  or  in  what 
language  or  dialect  he  spoke.  The  old  Hebrew  fabu- 
list's inventive  resource  fell  far  below  the  rich  fancy  of 


58 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


Milton,  who  thus  depicts  the  opening  of  the  interview  : — 

"  Oft  he  bowed 
His  tuiret  crest,  and  sleek  enamelled  neck, 
Fawning,  and  licked  the  ground  whereon  she  trod. 
His  gentle  dumb  expression  turned  at  length 
The  eyes  of  Eve  to  mark  his  play  ;  he,  glad 
Of  her  attention  gained,  with  serpent  tongue 
Organic,  or  impulse  of  vocal  air. 
His  fraudulent  temptation  thus  began  : 
*  Wonder  not,  sovereign  mistress,'  "  etc. 

After  the  "  fall  of  man  "  the  first  miracle  recorded  is 
the  Deluge,  which  has  always  appeared  to  me  in  the  light 
of  one  of  the  most  atrocious  of  human  conceptions.  If 
it  were  not  a  mere  human  idea,  but  an  awful  reality, 
wrought  by  an  infinitely  good  and  powerful  deity,  then 
it  was  all  the  more  infamous — indeed,  inexpressibly 
horrible  alike  in  purpose  and  execution. 

The  professed  object  of  the  Deluge  was  to  clear  the 
earth  of  all  the  wicked  people  upon  it.  The  Flood  did 
more  than  this.  It  destroyed  helpless  and  innocent 
children  as  well  as  inoffensive  and  guiltless  animals. 
And  when  this  was  done  the  end  for  which  the  Flood 
was  designed  was  not  accomplished.  Noah  and  his 
family,  with  the  germs  of  inherent  depravity  within 
them,  remained  alive  to  transmit  to  their  offspring  the 
many  bad  as  well  as  the  few  good  qualities  of  their 
nature.  Is  it  not  incredible  that  a  good  God  would 
adopt  such  a  method  to  remove  evil-doers  from  the 
earth  ?  If  he  were  all-powerful,  he  could,  had  he  chosen, 
have  removed  the  evil  from  the  people  without  destroying 
them  ;  and  if  his  goodness  had  been  equal  to  his  power 
— that  is,  had  he  been  infinitely  good  as  well  as  infinitely 
powerful — he  would  have  been  impelled  by  his  very 
nature  to  do  it.  Moreover,  was  he  not  to  blame,  in  the 
first  instance,  for  allowing  evil  to  enter  into  the  world  ? 
Or,  at  all  events,  having  allowed  it,  might  he  not  have 
nipped  it  in  the  bud,  without  permitting  it  to  increase  in 


BIBLE    MIRACLES. 


59 


i. 


such  a  fashion  as  to  necessitate  the  destruction  of  all 
living  beings,  except  one  favoured  family  ? 

But  when  we  look  at  the  idea  of  the  Flood  as  a 
human  conception,  we  see  at  once  what  absurd  ideas 
of  nature  and  of  man  the  Biblical  writer  cherished. 
Wickedness  was  regarded  by  him  as  an  entity  that  could 
only  be  annihilated  with  the  destruction  of  the  creature. 
It  had  no  reference  to  the  kind  of  organisation,  the 
education,  or  to  the  environment  of  the  individual.  Not 
at  all.  These  things  did  not  count.  The  human  heart 
was  black,  foul,  and  corrupt,  and  men's  thoughts  were 
"  evil  continually ;"  and  the  only  conceivable  remedy,  to 
the  mind  of  the  writer,  was  the  miraculous  cold-water 
process,  by  which  human  beings  were  to  be  ruthlessly 
sacrificed.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  the 
writer  that  God  might  have  effected  his  purpose  just  as 
well — nay,  better — had  he  performed  a  good  miracle 
instead  of  a  bad  one,  and  converted  the  wicked  people 
into  good,  wise,  and  just  men  and  women.  No  ;  Jahveh 
must  do  something  appalling  in  its  far-reaching  conse- 
quences to  demonstrate  his  power,  else  the  Biblical 
scribe  was  not  satisfied. 

The  miracles  said  to  have  been  wrought  by  Moses 
and  Aaron  in  Eg>'pt  are  of  a  different  order.  They  were 
performed  like  the  tricks  of  the  conjurer,  and  for  no 
more  moral  purpose  than  to  demonstrate  to  the  incredu- 
lous and  hard-hearted  Pharaoh  the  wonderful  power  of 
Jahveh.  Such  alleged  miracles  as  the  sun  and  moon 
standing  still,  the  pillar  of  fire  and  the  pillar  of  cloud 
moving  in  front  of  the  Israelites,  the  burning  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  may  have  been  only  highly-coloured 
descriptions  of  phenomena  which  the  writers  believed  to 
have  taken  place,  and  are  not,  therefore,  to  be  critically 
considered  in  the  light  of  supernatural  events. 

Passing  by  the  books  of  Samuel  as  containing  litde  of 
a  strikingly  miraculous  character,  I  come  next  to  such 


6o 


THE   BIBLE  AND   EVOLUTION. 


miracles  as  the  ascension  of  Elijah  to  heaven  (2  Kings  ii.) 
and  the  raising  of  the  Shunammite's  son  to  life  by  Elisha 

(2  Kings  iv.). 

Now,  the  first  of  these  miracles  implies  that  God 
suspended  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  allowed  Elijah  to 
make  a  rapid  ascent  to  heaven.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Kings  had  no  idea  of  the 
immortahty  of  the  soul,  one  can  understand  his  ardent 
desire  to  convey  to  his  readers  that  a  good  man  like 
Elijah  did  not  die  as  ordinary  mortals  do.  This  may 
have  been  the  reason  that  induced  him  to  write  an 
account  of  Elijah's  translation  by  means  of  a  "fiery 
chariot,"  with  "horses  of  fire,"  into  heaven.  Heaven,  to 
the  writer,  appeared  to  be  located  just  above  the  clouds. 
Nobody  to-day  would  seriously  argue  that  God  sus- 
pended, or  rather  violated,  all  the  laws  of  nature  in 
order  to  allow  Elijah  or  any  other  man  to  take  an  excur- 
sion to  heaven,  not  only  because  we  have  no  evidence 
that  a  human  being  could  live  there  if  he  safely  arrived, 
but  because  the  study  of  astronomy  has  placed  any 
possible  heaven  in  the  skies  at  such  an  enormous  dis- 
tance from  the  earth  that  Elijah  and  his  fiery  chariot 
would  probably  not  have  reached  their  destination  yet. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  Elisha's  alleged  miracle  of 
raising  the  Shunammite's  son  was  a  real  miracle  after  all. 
\t  all  events,  he  adopted  perfectly  natural  means  to 
bring  about  the  desired  effect.  He  did  not  call  the 
child  by  name  and  say,  "  Arise !  you  that  are  dead- 
awake !"  No;  "he  lay  upon  the  child,  and  put  his 
mouth  upon  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  his  eyes,  and 
his  hands  upon  his  hands :  and  he  stretched  himself 
upon  the  child,  and  the  flesh  of  the  child  waxed  warm ; 
Then  he  returned,  and  walked  in  the  house  to  and  fro, 
and  went  up  and  stretched  himself  upon  him,' and  the 
child  sneezed  seven  times,  and  the  child  opened  his 
eyes"  (2  Kings  iv.   34,   35)-     A   quack   doctor   might 


BIBLE    MIRACLES. 


61 


%» 


have  gone  through  the  same  performance  with  the  same 
result,  if  the  child  were  not  really  dead,  but  only  in  a 
state  of  suspended  animation.  If  the  child,  however, 
were  actually  dead — if  the  vital  spark  had  gone  out  of 
the  body,  then  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  breathing 
into  the  dead  child's  mouth  would  have  been  anything 
more  than  a  repulsive  farce. 

In  both  these  cases  the  miracles  were  supposed  to  be 
accomplished  for  a  good  end,  and,  unlike  those  in  the 
earlier  books,  did  not  bring  wholesale  destruction  in 
their  train.  The  miracles  recorded  in  the  book  of 
Daniel,  and  again  in  Jonah,  are  of  a  puerile  character, 
wrought  for  the  sole  purpose  of  showing  that  the  God  of 
Daniel  and  the  God  of  Jonah  was  a  mighty  being,  whose 
wonderful  performances  should  inspire  fear,  even  if  they 
could  not  command  respect. 

In  the  Pentateuch,  then,  we  have  a  record  of  miracles 
of  a  wholly  useless,  and  in  many  cases  of  a  very  destruc- 
tive, character.  But  in  the  later  books — we  do  not,  of 
course,  include  the  book  of  Job  or  other  admittedly 
more  ancient  productions  than  the  Pentateuch — the 
character  of  the  miracles  undergoes  a  slight  change, 
until  we  find  that  in  almost  every  case,  though  the 
method  was  dubious,  the  object  for  which  the  miracles 
were  supposed   to   have   been  wrought  was   decidedly 

good. 

Turn  now  to  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament,  and, 
without  inquiring  too  critically  as  to  their  credibility,  let 
us  see  what  was  their  value  when  tested  by  their  utility. 

The  alleged  miracles  of  Jesus  are  fairly  numerous. 
The  aim  and  motive  of  most  of  them  were  clearly  bene- 
ficent; but  the  utilitarian  or  moral  value  of  some  is 
extremely  questionable.  Jesus  may  be  applauded  for 
curing  a  man  of  leprosy,  for  healing  the  centurion's 
servant,  or  even  for  "removing"  the  fever  from  Peter's 
mother-in-law.     But,  if  Jesus  were  God,  it  is  difficult  to 


62 


THE    BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


understand  why  such  persons  should  be  afflicted  with 
these  diseases  at  all,  especially  if  their  conduct  was  meri- 
torious ;  and,  if  such  diseases  were  sent  as  a  punishment, 
it  is  equally  hard  to  understand  why  Jesus  should  select 
these  among  so  many  for  cure,  and  leave  all  other  afflicted 
persons  to  deal  with  the  diseases  by  natural  methods  or 
perish.  These  were  undoubtedly  useful  miracles  if  they 
occurred ;  but,  as  no  amount  of  evidence  would  prove 
them  to  have  been  performed  by  supernatural  means — 
no  man  being  able  to  set  a  limit  to  nature's  capabilities 
— we  are  open  either  to  believe  that  those  who  recorded 
these  events  were  mistaken  or  deceived,  or  that  they 
were  accomplished  in  a  purely  natural  way. 

Jesus  is  said  to  have  turned  devils  out  of  demoniacs. 
But  what  are  devils  ?  Theologians  do  not  know.  They 
profess  to  know  something  about  a  personal  being  whom 
they  describe  by  this  name ;  but  devils  in  the  plural  they 
know  nothing  about.  Some  say  that  the  devils  referred 
to  were  "fits."  But  fits  are  not  entities;  they  are  a 
physical  condition  resulting  from  a  derangement  of  the 
nervous  system. 

The  first  three  gospels  relate  how  a  legion  of  devils 
were  transferred  from  a  human  subject  to  the  bodies  of 
some  poor  pigs,  whose  constitutions  were  so  disturbed 
by  extraordinary  and  unexpected  internal  sensations  that 
they,  with  one  accord,  made  an  end  to  their  existence  by 
rushing  furiously  down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea.  Now, 
granting  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  turn  devils  out  of  the 
man,  how  can  it  be  regarded  as  a  moral  act  to  give  them 
a  temporary  lodging  in  the  unoffending  pigs?  And  if 
these  devils  were  "fits,"  is  it  possible  to  transfer  the  fits 
of  a  man  to  pigs  ? 

It  is  said  that  Jesus  "  stilled  the  tempest."  But,  though 
this  would  be  in  itself  a  meritorious  performance,  there 
were  very  few  lives  at  stake.  And  if  it  was  a  good  thing 
for  Jesus  to  still  the  tempest  to  save  a  few  disciples,  it 


BIBLE   MIRACLES. 


63 


I 


is  not  unnatural  to  ask  if  it  would  not  be  still  more 
praiseworthy  on  his  part  to  calm  the  fury  of  the  waves 
when  some  great  vessel  heavily  laden  with  human  beings 
was  about  to  be  engulfed  ?  In  presence  of  such  a  heart- 
moving  spectacle,  should  we  not  all  feel  with  Miranda  :— 

"  If  by  your  art,  my  dearest  father,  you  have 
Put  the  wild  waters  in  this  roar,  allay  them  ; 
The  sky,  it  seems,  would  pour  down  stinking  pitch. 
But  that  the  sea,  mounting  to  the  welkin's  cheek. 
Dashes  the  fire  out.     O,  I  have  suffered 
With  those  that  I  saw  suffer  !     A  brave  vessel, 
Who  had  no  doubt  some  noble  creatures  in  her, 
Dashed  all  to  pieces.     O,  the  cry  did  knock 
Against  my  very  heart  !     Poor  souls,  they  perished  ! 
Had  I  been  any  god  of  power,  I  would 
Have  sunk  the  sea  within  the  earth,  or  e'er 
It  should  the  good  ship  so  have  swallowed,  and 
The  fraughting  souls  within  her  "  ? 

Now,  if  Jesus,  as  a  God,  wished  to  demonstrate  his 
power  over  the  winds  and  the  waves,  surely  he  might 
have  selected  an  opportunity  when  more  lives  were  at 
stake  than  those  of  a  few  favoured  apostles.  When  the 
Londo7i  went  down,  heavily  laden  with  young  and  hopeful 
emigrants,  or  when  the  Princess  Alice  was  cut  in  twain 
by  a  massive  iron  vessel — on  such  occasions  as  these  a 
big  miracle  would  have  been  of  undoubted  utility.  But 
when  miracles  are  most  needed,  then  are  they  most  con- 
spicuous by  their  absence. 

Jesus  is  said  to  have  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind.  A 
useful  miracle,  undoubtedly,  if  it  were  ever  performed. 
With  no  more  difficult  surgical  operation  than  daubing 
some  clay  upon  the  sightless  eyes,  and  caUing  upon  the 
man  to  see,  Jesus  is  alleged  to  have  wrought  this  change 
(John  ix.).  jfesus  did  not  give  the  man  new  eyes,  nor  sup- 
ply any  deficiency  in  "  the  aqueous  or  vitreous  humours." 
No.  He  went  through  various  eccentric  ceremonies 
with  some  soft  clay,  called  upon  the  man  to  receive  his 


64 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


BIBLE   MIRACLES. 


65 


sight,  *'and  it  was  so."  The  Gospel  narrative,  however, 
itself  throws  grave  doubt  upon  the  genuineness  of  this 
miracle ;  for  it  goes  on  to  declare  that  Jesus  adjured  the 
man  to  on  no  account  divulge  to  any  man  the  secret  of 
how  his  sight  had  been  restored.  Imagine  a  surgeon 
who,  having  performed  a  successful  operation,  should 
implore  his  patient  to  tell  no  man,  lest  his  practice  should 
increase  beyond  his  power  to  cope  with  it !  If  Jesus 
could  restore  the  vision  of  one  blind  man,  why  not  of  a 
thousand  ?  Or,  indeed,  why  not  of  all  ?  And,  if  it  was 
a  moral  act  to  cure  one,  would  it  not  be  more  moral  to 
cure  all  ?  It  will  ever  appear  strange  to  the  thoughtful 
that,  in  a  world  governed  by  a  good,  just,  and  almighty 
being,  there  should  be  any  blind  persons  at  all.  Why 
should  a  God  make  organs  that  are  useless  ?  Upon  the 
theological  hypothesis,  there  can  be  no  rational  answer 
to  this  question. 

Two  other  miracles  may  close  our  survey  of  Jesus 
Christ's  thaumaturgic  record.  The  first  was  the  miracle 
of  feeding  five  thousand  hungry  persons  on  five  loaves 
and  two  fishes — a  very  useful  miracle  of  its  kind  (Mark 
vi.  34-44) — and  the  alleged  raising  of  Lazarus  to  life 
(John  xi.). 

In  the  feeding  of  five  thousand  we  are  told  that  they 
sat  down  in  hundreds  and  fifties,  and  that,  when  Jesus 
"  had  looked  \ip  to  heaven,  and  blessed  and  brake  the 
loaves,  he  gave  them  to  his  disciples  to  set  before  them." 
Now,  whether  the  loaves  expanded  before  leaving  the 
hands  of  Jesus,  or  after,  the  writer  of  Mark  does  not  say. 
But,  if  neither  the  loaves  nor  the  fishes  were  irvcreased 
in  size,  w^e  must  assume  either  that  they  were  of  enormous 
dimensions  at  the  start,  or  that  the  people  could  not 
have  received  more  than  a  crumb  of  bread  apiece,  and  a 
bit  of  fish  of  such  infinitesimal  proportions  as  to  require 
the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  microscope  in  order  that 
they  might  grasp  it.     In  my   debate  with  the  Scotch 


I 


novelist,  Agnes  Rollo  Wilkie  ("Was  Jesus  an  Im- 
postor?"), my  gifted  antagonist  suggested  an  explana- 
tion which  she  imagined  to  be  of  a  rational  character. 
She  affirmed,  in  her  grandiloquent  way,  that  Jesus  did 
not  feed  the  five  thousand  on  five  loaves  and  two  fishes. 
Certainly  not.  He  supplied  them  with  something  far 
better  than  that ;  for  he  "  fed  them  with  the  imperish- 
able bread  of  wisdom  and  truth."  But  Mrs.  Wilkie  did 
not  say  whether  the  twelve  baskets  of  fragments  which 
were  taken  up  after  the  feast  were  of  the  same  unsub- 
stantial character.  Feeding  five  thousand  hungry  people 
is,  without  a  doubt,  a  benevolent  act.  But  feeding 
thousands  of  people  who  probably  had  food  enough  at 
home,  and  who  could  easily  obtain  it  if  they  chose,  is 
scarcely  so  useful  as  supplying  those  who,  in  time  of 
famine,  are  entirely  destitute  of  the  means  of  existence. 
The  resurrection  of  Lazarus  is  regarded  by  Christians 
as  the  very  best  example  of  the  great  love  of  Jesus  for 
his  friend  and  compassion  for  the  bereaved  sisters, 
Martha  and  Mary.  Looked  at  with  the  clear  eye  of 
reason,  the  alleged  event  bears  a  very  different  com- 
plexion. Jesus  knew  that  Lazarus  was  going  to  die,  yet 
he  went  away  and  did  not  return  until  Lazarus  had 
been  dead  some  days.  Then,  although  he  knew  he 
could  raise  him  from  the  dead,  he  came  down  to  the 
grave-side  and  wept.  Why  these  tears  ?  Was  Jesus 
sincere,  or  was  his  grief  but  a  theatrical  affectation  ?  Then 
Jesus  called  Lazarus  from  the  grave  with  a  "  loud  voice." 
Presumably,  the  dead  take  no  heed  of  soft  voices.  Jesus 
bade  him  "Come  forth."  Although  Lazarus  was 
"  bound  hand  and  foot  with  graveclothes,"  he  managed 
to  dexterously  wriggle  out  of  the  grave.  It  may  have 
been  gratifying  to  Martha  and  Mary  to  have  their  brother 
restored  to  them.  It  may  have  excited  wonder  and 
admiration  in  the  crowd  who  are  alleged  to  have  wit- 
nessed  the   event;   but  it  certainly  was   ill-considered 


66 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


BIBLE   MIRACLES. 


67 


kindness  to  poor  Lazarus,  who,  instead  of  at  once  taking 
rank  among  the  immortals,  was  recalled  from  the  ''valley 
of  the  shadow "  only  ere  long  to  fall  again  "  sick  unto 
death  "  and  re-enter  the  sepulchral  cave. 

The  morality  of  such  a  miracle,  viewed  in  this  light, 
is  very  questionable.  Neither  does  the  resurrection  of 
Lazarus  seem  to  have  had  any  perceptible  effect  on  the 
people.  It  converted  none,  and  Lazarus  took  no  steps 
to  evince  the  genuineness  of  the  miracle  by  going  among 
the  people  and  proclaiming  the  wonder  that  had  been 
performed  upon  him. 

The  alleged  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  a  miracle  into  the 
utility  of  which  we  need  not  inquire,  since,  if  Jesus  were 
God,  he  could  not  die,  and,  if  he  were  a  man,  he  could 
not  raise  himself  from  the  dead. 

Before  summing  up,  we  will  throw  a  cursory  glance  at 
the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  account  of 
St.  Peter's  so-called  miraculous  deliverance  from  prison 
by  the  aid  of  an  angel  is  susceptible  of  more  than  one 
interpretation.  If  the  event  actually  happened,  it  was 
undoubtedly  a  very  fortunate  occurrence  for  Peter; 
but,  unless  Peter  or  the  angel  wrote  the  Acts,  we  have 
not  their  word  for  it,  and  it  may  have  been  that  Peter 
made  his  escape  from  prison,  or  was  released,  without 
the  aid  of  an  angel,  or,  indeed,  without  any  supernatural 
assistance.  In  the  fourteenth  chapter  we  read  that  St. 
Paul  practised  what,  in  these  days,  would  be  called 
the  art  of  "  faith-healing."  He  is  said  to  have  healed  a 
man  who  was  a  cripple  from  his  birth.  All  he  did  was 
to  say  to  the  man  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Stand  upright  on 
thy  feet."  And  the  man  leaped  and  walked.  Perhaps 
he  was  not  used  to  being  shouted  at.  It  was  a  good 
miracle  if  it  occurred ;  but  it  would  have  seemed  more 
satisfactory  if  St.  Paul  had  operated  on  a  one-legged 
man  and  miraculously  supplied  him  with  a  fresh  limb. 
A  little  further  on  St.  Paul  is  alleged  to  have  restored  a 


* 


young  man  named  Eutychus  to  life.  It  appears  that, 
while  Paul  was  delivering  an  eloquent  discourse,  Euty- 
chus became  so  interested  that  he  fell  into  a  deep  sleep 
— a  not  unnatural  thing  to  do  when  listening  to  a  dreary 
sermon — and  "  fell  down  from  the  third  loft  and  was 
taken  up  dead."  But  Paul  went  down  and  fell  on  him, 
and  said  to  the  alarmed  bystanders  :  "  Trouble  not  your- 
selves, for  his  life  is  in  him."  Now,  if  the  young  man 
were  really  dead,  it  was  surely  a  little  perversion  of  the 
truth  for  St.  Paul  to  say  that  "his  life  was  in  him 3"  and, 
if  "  his  life  was  in  him,"  then  there  was  no  miracle  per- 
formed by  St.  Paul,  and  his  falling  upon  the  young  man 
would  not  tend  to  his  recovery. 

We  have  seen  that  the  miracles  of  Jesus  were  mainly 
of  a  useful  character,  supposing  they  were  performed ; 
for,  with  the  exception  of  the  useless  cursing  of 
the  fig-tree  and  the  swine  episode,  the  rest  of  the 
wonders  said  to  have  been  wrought  by  the  Nazarene 
were  performed  for  distinctly  desirable  purposes,  the 
consummation  of  which  meant  the  increase  of  human 
happiness.  But  whether  we  are  dealing  with  the  miracles 
recorded  in  the  Old  or  in  the  New  Testament,  whether 
with  the  wonders  performed  by  Jahveh  or  Jesus,  or  by 
less  prominent  "  instruments,"  such  as  Moses,  Joshua, 
Samson,  or  Paul,  there  is  one  fatal  error  running  through 
them  all.  They  all  assume  that  the  laws  of  nature  are 
variable ;  that  they  may  be  changed,  varied,  or  broken 
at  the  mere  fiat  of  the  deity — a  purely  gratuitous  assump- 
tion, to  which  human  experience,  common  sense,  and, 
above  all,  the  great  doctrine  of  Evolution,  are  utterly 
opposed.  The  study  of  the  Evolution  doctrine  demon- 
strates that  all  the  phenomena  of  nature  are  natural ; 
that  effects  follow  causes  in  a  never-ending  succession  ; 
that  natural  forces  go  straight  to  their  end,  mowing  down 
whoever  or  whatever  happens  to  be  in  the  way  with 
perfect   impartiality ;    and   that,    if    miracles  had   ever 


68 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


happened,  or  were  ever  likely  to  happen,  man  would  be 
the  most  miserable  of  all  beings — the  sport  and  toy  of 
nature,  or  of  any  being  that  happened  to  be  behind 
natural  forces.  For,  unless  the  laws  of  nature  were 
fixed  and  unalterable,  he  would  be  powerless  to  calculate 
for  a  single  instant  the  course  of  events  in  the  world 
about  him.  Unable  to  pursue  his  daily  avocation,  he 
would  from  day  to  day  cower  in  abject  fear,  awaiting  the 
fatal  force  that  would  deprive  him  of  existence. 


CHAPTER    VIIL 

MIRACLES  INCREDIBLE. 

Miracles  Never  Attested  by  Trustworthy  Evidence — The 
Testimony  of  the  Gospel  Writers — Why  Rejected — 
Miracles  Violate  the  Laws  of  Nature — Bilchner  on 
the  Universality  of  Law — Hu7ne  on  Miracles —  Walt 
Whitman — Miracles  Opposed  to  Evolution. 

Concerning  the  subject  of  miracles  in  general,  we  may 
lay  down  these  propositions  : — 

1.  That  they  have  never  been  attested  by  trustworthy 
evidence. 

2.  That  the  performance  of  them  would  be  a  violation 
of  those  uniform  human  experiences  and  observations 
from  which  have  been  deduced  all  the  known  laws  of 
nature. 

3.  That  they  are  opposed  to  the  great  doctrine  of 
Evolution. 

We  will  take  these  points  one  by  one. 

I.  No  alleged  miracle  has  been  attested  by  sound  or 
trustworthy  evidence.  The  Old  Testament  miracles  are 
not  recorded  by  eye-witnesses  \  and  even  if  they  were, 
unless  we  knew  what  sort  of  persons  the  writers  were — 
whether  they  were  wise  or  foolish,  credulous  or  careful 
in  the  examination  of  evidence — we  could  not  determine 
the  exact  degree  of  credibility  to  be  attached  to  their 
statements. 

That  Moses  was  not  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch  is 
now  regarded,  by  all  who  are  capable  of  forming  a  just 
judgment  on  the  matter,  as  beyond  all  doubt.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  two  or  more  writers   contributed 


70 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


MIRACLES    INCREDIBLE. 


71 


towards  the  production  of  the  first  five  books  of  the 
Bible,  and  from  the  character  of  their  writings  we  are 
entitled  to  say  that  they  were  unable  to  discriminate 
between  the  petty  tricks  of  a  conjurer  and  the  majestic 
phenomena  of  the  universe.  Of  the  other  writers  we 
may  remark  that  they  were  either  self-deceived,  or  so 
credulous  that  they  believed  everything  they  were  told 
concerning  extraordinary  events  that  were  said  to  have 
happened  at  the  time  of  which  they  wrote. 

Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the  alleged  miracles  of  the 
New  Testament  are  properly  attested.  Such  evidence 
as  is  offered  for  them  would  be  rejected  by  any  magis- 
trate as  altogether  inadequate.  The  question  then  is, 
What  evidence  is  required  to  establish  the  truth  of  such 
extraordinary  events  ?  In  the  first  place,  we  need  the 
evidence  of  eye-witnesses ;  in  the  second  place,  we 
require  the  evidence  of  individuals  who  were  not  likely 
to  be  deceived ;  and,  thirdly,  we  want  the  evidence  of 
persons  who  were  not  interested  in  telling  a  falsehood  to 
maintain  some  theory  which  they  believed  to  be  true. 
In  no  case  have  we  got  such  witnesses.  Firstly,  the 
alleged  writers  of  the  Gospels  do  not  pretend  that  they 
witnessed  the  performance  of  the  miracles ;  secondly, 
they  do  not  state  their  testimony  with  the  judicial  pre- 
cision and  orderly  marshalling  of  facts  and  evidences 
which  would  entitle  them  to  be  considered  as  competent 
witnesses ;  and,  thirdly,  living  in  an  age  and  generation 
to  whom  miracles  were  the  commonplaces  of  belief, 
they  must  be  regarded  as  highly  prejudiced  in  favour  of 
the  supernatural  occurrences  they  recount. 

2.  The  performances  of  miracles  would  be  a  violation 
of  human  experience  and  of  the  laws  of  nature.  By 
laws  of  nature  are  not  meant  some  Divine  commands 
which  are  rigidly  carried  out  in  the  operations  of  natural 
forces,  but  merely  the  observed  order  of  phenomena. 
Human  experience  gives  the  best  warrant  for  the  belief 


i 


that  nature's  laws  are  uniform  in  their  mode  of  opera- 
tion ;  that  each  and  every  event  is  preceded  by  some 
other  event  without  which  it  could  not  happen,  and 
with  which  it  is  bound  to  happen  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
that  the  phenomena  of  nature  consist  of  one  long  chain 
of  causes  and  effects,  which  is  practically  endless. 
Now,  it  must  be  perfectly  obvious  to  any  rational  crea- 
ture that,  if  this  be  true,  miracles  cannot  happen,  for  the 
happening  of  a  miracle  would  be  the  disturbance  of  the 
whole  order  of  phenomena  ;  and,  since  all  events  are 
the  necessary  consequence  of  previous  events  through 
all  time,  the  performance  of  a  miracle  would  involve  the 
undoing  of  this  endless  series  of  phenomena.  Feuer- 
bach  well  expresses  it  when  he  says  :  "  Who  suspends 
one  law  of  nature  suspends  them  all." 

The  study  of  astronomy  and  natural  philosophy 
affords  us  ample  proof  that  the  same  laws  which  govern 
the  earth  on  which  we  live  also  govern  the  stars  and 
other  heavenly  bodies.  Professor  Biichner  says^  ''  The 
laws  of  gravitation — i.e.,  the  laws  of  motion  and  attrac- 
tion— are,  in  all  space  reached  by  the  telescope,  invariably 
the  same.  The  motions  of  all  the  most  remote  bodies 
take  place  according  to  the  same  laws  by  which  on  our 
earth  a  stone  falls,  or  the  pendulum  vibrates,  etc.  All 
astronomical  calculations  regarding  the  motions  of  dis- 
tant bodies,  and  which  are  based  upon  these  known 
laws,  have  proved  perfectly  correct.  Astronomers  have 
pointed  out  the  existence  of  stars  which  were  only  dis- 
covered after  being  sought  for  in  the  spots  indicated ; 
they  predict  solar  and  lunar  eclipses,  and  calculate  the 
re-appearance  of  comets  in  centuries  to  come.  The 
form  of  Jupiter  was  deduced  from  the  laws  of  rotation 
and  was  verified  by  direct  observation.  We  know  that 
the  planets  have  their  seasons,  days,  and  nights,  like  the 
earth,  though  they  differ  in  length." 

*  "Force  and  Matter." 


72 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


The  learned  writer  then  carries  his  illustration  into 
other  departments  of  physical  science.     He  says  :  "  The 
laws  of  light  through  all  space  are  the  same  as  on  our 
earth.     Everywhere  has  it  the  same  velocity  and  compo- 
sition, and  its  refraction  takes  place  in  a  similar  manner. 
The  light  which  the  most  remote  fixed  stars  transmit  to 
us  through  a  space  of  billions  of  miles  differs  in  nothing 
from  the  light  of  our  sun  ;  it  acts  according  to  the  same 
laws,  and  has  the  same  composition.     We  possess  not 
less  sufficient  grounds  proving  that  the  bodies  in  the 
universe  possess  two  of  the  same  properties  as  our  earth 
and  the  objects  upon  it— namely,  impenetrability  and 
divisibility.     The  laws  of  heat  are  like  those  of  light — 
everywhere  the  same.     The  heat  emanating  from   the 
sun  acts  according  to  the  same  principles  as  that  radi- 
ating from  the  earth.     But  it  is  upon  the  relation  of 
heat  that  the  solid,  liquid,  and  aeriform  states  of  bodies 
depend  ;  these  states  must,  therefore,  everywhere  exist 
under  the  same  conditions.     Again,  electricity,  magne- 
tism, etc.,  are  so  intimately  connected  with  the  evolution 
of  heat  that  they  cannot  be  separated  ;  consequently, 
wherever  heat  is — that  is  to  say,  everywhere — there  must 
also  be  these  forces.     The  same  may  be  asserted  of  the 
relation  of  heat  to  the  mode  of  chemical  combination 
and  decomposition,  which  must  everywhere  take  place 
in   a   similar  manner.     Meteoric   stones— visible    mes- 
sengers from  another  world — afford  a  more  direct  proof. 
In  these  remarkable  bodies,  which  are  projected  from 
other  heavenly  bodies,   or   from   the  primordial  ether, 
there  has  as  yet  no  element  been  discovered  which  is 
not  already  existing  upon  the  earth,  nor  is  the  form  of 
those  crystals  different  from  those  known  to  us.     The 
history  of  the  origin  and  development  of  our  earth  is 
analogous  to  that  of  other  heavenly  bodies.  The  spheroidal 
forms  of  the  planets  prove  that  they,  like  the  earth,  were 
once  in  a  fluid  state  ;  and  the  gradual  development  of 


MIRACLES   INCREDIBLE. 


73 


^1 


the  earth  to   its  present  form  must,  in  similar  manner, 
have  taken  place  in  all  other  planets." 

In  the  foregoing  passages  Dr.  Biichner  has  admirably 
demonstrated  the  universality  of  the  laws  which  regulate 
all  bodies  in  the  universe.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that,  if 
the  laws  of  nature  were  not  immutable,  man  could  not 
calculate  with  any  certainty  upon  the  happening  of  any 
single  event;  all  the  forces  happening  haphazard,  or 
having  no  inherent  qualities  of  attraction  or  repulsion,, 
would  cause  irreparable  confusion.  It  follows  conse- 
quently, from  the  universality  of  the  laws  of  nature,  that 
the  performance  of  a  miracle  would  mean  the  suspension 
of  all  these  laws  and  the  production  of  universal  chaos. 

David  Hume  years  ago  laid  it  down  that  we  may 
accept  it  as  a  general  maxim  "that  no  testimony  is 
sufficient  to  establish  a  miracle  unless  the  testimony  be 
of  such  a  kind  that  its  falsehood  would  be  more  miracu- 
lous than  the  fact  which  it  endeavours  to  establish,  and 
even  in  that  case  there  is  a  mutual  destruction  of  argu- 
ments, and  the  superior  only  gives  us  an  assurance 
suitable  to  that  degree  of  force  which  remains  after 
deducting  the  inferior.  When  anyone,"  he  adds,  '*  tells 
me  that  he  saw  a  dead  man  restored  to  life  I  immediately 
consider  with  myself  whether  it  would  be  more  probable 
that  this  person  should  either  deceive  or  be  deceived, 
or  that  the  fact  which  he  relates  sho**ld  really  have 
happened.  I  weigh  the  one  miracle  against  the  other,, 
and  according  to  the  superiority  which  I  discover  I 
pronounce  my  decision,  and  always  reject  the  greater 
miracle.  If  the  falsehood  of  his  testimony  would  be 
more  miraculous  than  the  event  which  he  relates,  then^ 
and  not  till  then,  can  he  pretend  to  command  my  belief 
or  opinion." 

Sometimes  the  discussion  of  this  question  of  the  hap- 
pening of  miracles  is  rendered  exceedingly  confusing  by 
the  employment  of  the  word   "  miracle  "  in  a  different 


74 


THE    BIBLE    AND    EVOLUTION. 


sense  altogether  from  that  which  we  are  now  considering. 
In  one  sense,  as  Thomas  Paine  points  out,  everything  in 
nature  is  a  miracle — that  is  to  say,  its  very  existence  is 
wonderful  and  strange  to  man.     Walt  Whitman  says : — 

"  Why  !    Who  makes  much  of  a  miracle  ? 
As  to  me,  I  know  nothing  else  but  miracles. 
To  me  every  hour  of  the  light  and  dark  is  a  miracle  ; 
Every  cubic  inch  of  space  is  a  miracle  ; 
Every  square  yard  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  spread  with  the 

same ; 
Every  cubic  foot  of  the  interior  swarms  with  the  same  ; 
Every  spear  of  grass — the  frames,  limbs,  organs  of  men  and 

women  and  all  that  concerns  them — 
All  these  to  me  are  unmistakably  perfect  miracles. 
To  me  the  sea  is  a  continual  miracle — 
The  fishes  that  swim,  the  rocks,  the  motion  of  the  waves,  the 

ships  with  men  in  them — 
What  stranger  miracles  are  there  ?" 

But  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  poet  is  not  using  the 
word  *'  miracle  "  in  the  sense  of  a  marvellous  and  super- 
natural event.  ' 

Raising  dead  people  to  life,  feeding  thousands  on  five 
loaves  and  two  fishes,  walking  on  the  surface  of  the  sea, 
opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  ascending  into  heaven 
through  the  clouds^these  and  like  events  are  occurrences 
which  are  not  in  harmony  with  nature's  every-day  per- 
formances, which  contradict  human  experience,  and 
which,  if  we  are  expected  to  believe  them,  would  require 
the  most  conclusive  kind  of  evidence  to  substantiate. 
If  a  man  said  that  he  saw  another  raised  from  the  dead 
to-day,  who  would  believe  him  ?  No  one.  If  he  affirmed 
that  he  himself  was  so  raised,  we  should  probably  get 
a  strait-waistcoat  for  him.  But  if  he  declared  that 
somebody  saw  a  miracle  happen  hundreds  of  years  ago, 
when  there  was  no  printing-press,  when  the  masses  were 
ignorant  and  credulous,  when  every  event  that  was  not 
understood  was  regarded  as  miraculous,  Christians  would 


MIRACLES    INCREDIBLE. 


75 


say,  *'  We  believe  it."  But  if  he  went  on  to  allege  that 
the  said  miracle  was  performed  by  Mohammed,  they 
would  smile  and  say,  "  Mohammed  !  Oh,  he  was  an 
impostor  !"  Each  religionist  denies  the  miracles  of  the 
other ;  each  affirms  the  other's  to  have  been  "  mere 
jugglery ;"  and  the  Rationalist  denies  them  all. 

3.  With  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  firmly 
impressed  upon  his  mind,  with  a  clear  understanding 
■of  the  oneness  of  Nature,  in  spite  of  her  multifarious 
manifestations,  the  Rationalist  is  fortified  against  delu- 
sions of  every  kind.  He  knows  that  in  the  realm  of  the 
Cosmos  each  event  forms  a  link  in  an  endless  chain  of 
causes  and  effects.  Nothing  absolutely  begins  in  nature, 
and  nothing  ends  ;  all  is  change — a  ceaseless  unfolding 
of  events,  an  endless  transformation  of  the  one  eternal 
substance.  In  the  Cosmos  everything  is  natural.  The 
'word  "supernatural"  in  the  past  has  always  been  the  term 
by  which  man  has  separated  the  known  from  the  un- 
known, and  with  the  ever-accumulating  force  of  the 
human  intellect  the  unknown  will  more  and  more  give 
way  to  the  known,  until  the  term  "supernatural"  will 
remain  only  as  the  veil  which  language  throws  over  the 
unknowable  and  unthinkable  origin  of  the  universe. 

"  Evolution,"  it  has  been  beautifullf  said,"^  "  is  not  at 
variance  with  religion  ;t  in  its  highest  sense  it  is  a  religion 
in  itself  The  Evolutionist  is  humble  in  the  presence 
of  Nature ;  she  represents  the  last  phase  of  the  great 
First  Cause.  Others  may  scoff  at  her,  the  child  of  their 
God ;  he  loves  her,  for  she  is  his  companion,  his  mother, 
iind  his  nurse ;  she  ministers  to  his  pleasures,  yet  she 
works  for  his  advancement ;  awake,  he  studies  her,  for 
she  is  the  mine  of  his  learning ;  asleep,  he  dreams  on 
the  unseen  working  of  her  wondrous  laws ;  he  listens. 


*  E.  A.  Ridsdale,  in  ''Cosmic  Evolution." 
+  The  word  "  religion  "  is  here  used  in  its  purely  secular  sense. 


76 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


he  sees,  and  ever  he  wonders ;  but  he  worships  not,  for 

he  has  no  fear He  cares  but  as  an  antiquarian  for 

the  book  of  the  Jews.  Nobler  inducements  has  he  ta 
act  righteously  than  the  most  learned  and  pious  divine. 
If  he  sins,  he  knows  well  that  the  future  will  be  tainted 
by  the  deeds  he  has  done.  He  it  is  not  that  does  right 
lest  his  soul  should  forever  be  lapt  in  noisome  sulphur- 
ous flames ;  he  shuns  evil  that  he  may  leave  behind  him 
a  purer  and  a  nobler  form,  that  he  may  hand  down  to 
posterity  habits  that  advantage  the  race  as  a  whole,  that 
he  may,  however  humble  his  sphere,  contribute  in  some 
way  to  the  happiness  of  the  future  race,  and  mitigate  its 
inheritance  of  pain." 


CHAPTER    IX. 


BIBLE  POETRY. 


Progress  and  Development  of  Poetry — Bible  Poetry  Re- 
flects the  Spirit  of  the  Times— The  Psalms— The 
Cursing  Psalmist  Compared  with  Portia — "^  venge- 
ful^ pitiless^  almighty  fiend''— Job  and  Shakespeare  on 
/he  Triumph  of  Justice — Choice  Quotations  from 
Psalms  and  Proverbs — The  Voluptuous  Song — Supe- 
riority of  ^Profane"  Poetry — Shakespeare — Keats — 
Pope — Shelley — Lowell — The  Chain  of  Development. 


As  long  as  human  beings  have  been  able  to  express  their 
deepest  feelings  in  articulate  and  rhythmical  language 
there  have  been  poets  in  the  world.     But  poetry,  like  all 
other  fine  arts,  is  a  development.     At  first,  it  is  simplicity 
itself;  but,  with  the  varied  experience  of  mankind,   it 
grows  and  changes,  until,  as  a  complex  and  complete 
whole,  it  captivates  the  head  and  enthralls  the  heart  of 
humanity.     The  painter  appeals  to  our  sense  of  beauty 
in  colour,  the  sculptor  to  our  idea  of  the  beautiful  in 
form,  the  musician  to  the  same  sense  in  sound ;  while 
the  poet  uses  all  the  arts  of  fancy  and  language  to  arouse 
in  us  a  recognition  of  the  beautiful  in  sentiment.     Now, 
the  aim  of  all  art  is  to  give  pleasure,  not  necessarily  to 
impart  truth.     The  poet  can   do  no  more  than  express 
his    own   physical   and   mental   states,    and,   therefore, 
poetry  can  be  only  the  mirror  of  natural  phenomena 
and  of  imaginary  creations,  as  they  appear  to  the  mind 
of  the  writer.     The  wider  and  loftier  his  knowledge  of 
nature  and  his  faculty  of  imagination,  the  greater  is  the 


78 


THE   BIBLE  AND   EVOLUTION. 


pleasure  he  experiences  and  imparts.  Works  of  art  have 
this  advantage  over  many  things  which  afford  us  tem- 
porary pleasure — such  as  money,  rank,  health,  sensual 
enjoyments,  etc.,  that  they  remain  behind  to  be  enjoyed 
by  thousands  who  know  nothing  of  their  authors,  but 
who  may  understand  and  appreciate  their  gifts  long  after 
their  eyes  have  ceased  to  roll  in  "fine  frenzy." 

It  would  be  manifestly  absurd  for  any  man  to  affirm 
that  the  Bible  contains  no  poetry,  because  every  reader 
must  know  that  poetic  expressions  are  scattered  through- 
out the  pages  of  this  so-called  sacred  book.  Every 
diligent  student  would  go  so  far  as  to  admit  that  some 
excellent  poetry  may  be  found  in  such  books  as  Job^ 
Psalms,  Proverbs,  Isaiah,  and  several  of  the  minor  pro- 
phets. 

The  contention  of  the  evolutionist,  however,  is  this — 
that  whatever  poetry  is  found  in  the  Bible  is  perfectly 
human,  and  often  of  a  very  faulty  character,  both  in  ex- 
pression and  sentiment,  even  after  it  has  been  improved 
by  successive  generations  of  revisers.  For  what  man 
with  a  grain  of  sense  can  believe  that  the  translations, 
which  we  now  have  of  the  Old  Testament  represent 
exactly  the  ideas  of  the  ancient  writers  ?  Even  the  plays 
of  Shakespeare  have  undergone  frequent  revision  to 
bring  certain  expressions  contained  in  them  more  in 
unison  with  modern  ideas.  Shakespeare  made  his- 
characters  speak  prevailing  opinions.  It  would  have 
been  folly  for  him  to  have  done  otherwise,  although  it  is 
quite  certain  that  the  poet  himself  dissented  from  many 
of  the  views  to  which  his  characters  gave  expression. 
The  same,  however,  cannot  be  said  of  the  Bible  poets. 
All  the  sentiments,  whether  good  or  bad,  which  they 
committed  to  writing  must  be  regarded  as  their  own, 
except  in  the  case  of  various  passages  in  the  poetic 
symposium  contained  in  the  book  of  Job.  And  yet  the 
sentiments  were  more  than  their  own.     The  voice  was 


BIBLE    POETRY. 


79 


the  voice  of  man  ;  the  emotions  and  language  were  the 
emotions  and  language  of  man  ;  but  the  motive  power 
and  inspiration  were  of  God.  God  used  alike  their 
sombre  moods  and  joyous  moods  to  reach  the  depths  of 
the  human  soul.  So  we  are  told.  But,  even  allowing 
this  theory  to  be  reasonable,  ought  we  to  expect  the  in- 
spired poet  to  breathe  the  spirit  of  revenge?  It  is 
well  enough  for  David  to  exclaim :  "  Oh,  give  thanks 
unto  the  Lord,  for  he  is  good,  for  his  mercy  endureth 

forever Who   giveth   food   to   all   flesh,    for    his 

mercy  endureth  forever"  (Psalm  cxxxvi.  i,  25).  But 
the  poet  shows  a  bigoted  and  cruel  spirit  when 
describing  persons  whom  he  calls  Jahveh's  enemies.  He 
says  :  "  Set  thou  a  wicked  man  over  him,  and  let  Satan 
stand  at  the  right  hand.  When  he  shall  be  judged  let 
him  be  condemned  :  and  let  his  prayer  become  sin. 
Let  his  days  become  few;  and  let  another  take  his  office. 
Let  his  children  be  fatherless,  and  his  wife  a  widow. 
Let  his  children  be  continually  vagabonds,  and  beg  :  let 
them  seek  their  bread  also  out  of  their  desolate  places. 
Let  the  extortioner  catch  all  that  he  hath ;  and  let  the 
strangers  spoil  his  labour.  Let  there  be  none  to  extend 
mercy  unto  him  :  neither  let  there  be  any  to  favour  his 
fatherless  children.  Let  his  posterity  be  cutoff;  and  in 
the  generation  following  let  their  name  be  blotted  out. 
Let  the  iniquity  of  his  fathers  be  remembered  with  the 
Lord ;  and  let  not  the  sin  of  his  mother  be  blotted  out " 

(Psalm  cix.  6-14). 

These  are  the  expressions  of  an  inspired  poet !  How 
different  these  revengeful  lines  from  Portia's  eulogy  of 
mercy  in  "The  Merchant  of  Venice":— 

*'  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained  ; 

It  droppeth,  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven, 
Upon  the  place  beneath  ;  it  is  twice  blessed : 
It  blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes : 
'Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest ;  it  becomes 


8o 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


BIBLE    POETRY. 


8l 


The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown  : 

His  sceptre  shows  the  force  of  temporal  power, 

The  attribute  to  awe  and  majesty, 

Wherein  doth  sit  the  dread  and  fear  of  kings  ; 

But  mercy  is  above  this  sceptered  sway, 

It  is  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  kings, 

It  is  an  attribute  to  God  himself; 

And  earthly  power  doth  then  show  likest  God's, 

When  mercy  seasons  justice." 

From  the  inspired  Bible  poet  to  the  uninspired  play- 
wright, what  an  evolution  ! 

We  learn  truth  by  contrast,  and  we  are  enabled  to 
judge  how  far  man  has  travelled  along  the  line  towards 
civilisation  by  reference  to  his  thoughts,  whether  ex- 
pressed in  poesy  or  prose.  A  low  idea  of  human  nature, 
an  intolerant  spirit  towards  those  from  whom  we  differ, 
dogmatism  on  things  doubtful,  are  signs  of  the  small  and 
uncultivated  mind.     Dryden  says  : — 

*'  A  tyrant's  power  in  rigour  is  exprest." 
And  the  harsh  character  of  the  Bible  poet  is  shown 
in  the  cruelty  and  vindictiveness  of  his  appeals  to  Deity 
to  avenge  himself  by  torturing  his  enemies. 

If  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  wxre  really  God-inspired, 
we  should  expect  not  only  to  find  it  perfect  in  style,  in 
expression,  soaring  to  the  loftiest  heights  and  sounding 
the  profoundest  depths  of  philosophy — giving  us,  indeed, 
the  noblest  truths  in  the  loveliest  dress — it  would  be  in- 
comparably superior  to  the  poems  of  profane  writers. 
Such,  however,  we  do  not  find  to  be  the  case.  Of 
human  nature  the  Bible  poets  understood  very  little  ;  of 
natural  phenomena  they  knew  even  less.  Consequently, 
they  sang  not  the  divine  song  of  human  liberty,  nor  did 
they  extol  the  labours  of  the  reformer,  the  struggles  of  a 
people  striving  to  be  free.  But  they  sang  the  song  of 
war,  of  strife,  of  passion,  of  hatred,  of  malice,  and  of 
murder.  They  sang  of  victories  which  their  God  had 
given  them  over  their  enemies,  and  composed  hymns  of 


praise  in  honour  of  a  God  whom  Shelley  describes  as— 

"A  vengeful,  pitiless,  and  almighty  fiend. 
Whose  mercy  is  a  nickname  for  the  rage 
Of  tameless  tigers  hungering  for  blood." 

Take  a  few  examples  of  the  crude  ideas  of  Deity  which 
permeate  the  poetical  parts  of  the  so-called  sacred 
volume:  "The  burden  of  Egypt.  Behold  the  Lord 
rideth  upon  a  swift  cloud,  and  shall  come  into  Egypt : 
and  the  idols  of  Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  presence, 
and  the  heart  of  Egypt  shall  melt  in  the  midst  of  it. 
And  I  will  set  the  Egyptians  against  the  Egyptians  :  and 
they  shall  fight  every  one  against  his  brother,  and  every 
one  against  his  neighbour,  city  against  city,  and  kingdom 
against  kingdom"  (Isaiah  xix.  i,  2).  We  have  here  the 
idea  set  before  us  of  a  God  who,  being  dissatisfied  with 
the  conduct  of  the  Egyptians,  resolves  to  *'set  every 
man  against  his  brother,  and  every  one  against  his  neigh- 
bour," as  the  only  method  of  vindicating  the  claim  of 
eternal  justice. 

The  unbeliever,  of  course,  is  to  have  a  very  unhappy 
time  of  it.  Observe  :  "  Now  go,  write  it  before  them  in 
a  table,  and  note  it  in  a  book,  that  it  may  be  for  the 
time  to  come  forever  and  ever.  That  this  is  a  rebellious 
people,  lying  children,  children  that  will  not  hear  the  law 
of  the  Lord  ;  which  say  to  the  seers,  See  not ;  and  to 
the  prophets.  Prophesy  not  unto  us  right  things ;  speak 
unto  us  smooth  things,  prophesy  deceits ;  get  you  out  of 
the  way,  turn  aside  out  of  the  path,  cause  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel  to  cease  from  before  us.  Wherefore  thus  saith 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  Because  ye  despise  this  word, 
and  trust  in  oppression  and  perverseness,  and  stay  there- 
on :  therefore  this  iniquity  shall  be  to  you  as  a  breach 
ready  to  fall,  swelling  out  in  a  high  wall,  whose  breaking 
Cometh  suddenly  at  an  instant.  And  he  shall  break  it 
as  the  breaking  of  the  potters'  vessel  that  is  broken  in 
pieces ;  he  shall  not  spare  :  so  that  there  shall  not  be 


82 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


found  in  the  bursting  of  it  a  sherd  to  take  fire  from 
the  hearth,  or  to  take  water  withal  out  of  the  pit" 
(Isaiah  xxx.  8-14). 

The  following  is  a  poetic  description  of  the  manner 
in  which  God  avengeth  himself  against  the  enemies  of 
the  Church:  *' Come  near,  ye  nations,  to  hear;  and 
hearken,  ye  people  :  let  the  earth  hear,  and  all  that  is 
therein  :  the  world,  and  all  things  that  come  forth  of  it. 
For  the  indignation  of  the  Lord  is  upon  all  nations,  and 
his  fury  upon  all  their  armies  :  he  hath  utterly  destroyed 
them,  he  hath  delivered  them  to  the  slaughter.  Their 
slain  also  shall  be  cast  out,  and  their  stink  shall  come 
up  out  of  their  carcasses,  and  the  mountains  shall  be 
melted  with  their  blood "  (Isaiah  xxxiv.  1-3).  "  Their 
land  shall  be  soaked  with  blood,  and  their  dust  made 
fat  with  fatness.  For  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord's  venge- 
ance, and  the  year  of  recompences  for  the  controversy  of 
Zion.  And  the  streams  thereof  shall  be  turned  into 
pitch,  and  the  dust  thereof  into  brimstone,  and  the  land 
thereof  shall  become  burning  pitch.  It  shall  not  be 
quenched  night  nor  day ;  the  smoke  thereof  shall  go  up 
forever  :  from  generation  to  generation  it  shall  lie  waste: 
none  shall  pass  through  it  forever  and  ever"  (Isaiah 
xxxiv.  7-10). 

There  is  a  touch  of  a  higher  Theism  in  the  following  : 
"Assemble  yourselves  and  come;  draw  near  together 
ye  that  are  escaped  of  the  nations  :  they  have  no  know- 
ledge that  set  up  the  wood  of  their  graven  image,  and 
pray  unto  a  god  that  cannot  save.  Tell  ye,  and  bring 
them  near ;  yea,  let  them  take  counsel  together  :  who 
hath  declared  this  from  ancient  time?  who  hath  told  it 
from  that  time  ?  have  not  I,  the  Lord  ?  and  there  is  no 
God  else  beside  me ;  a  just  God  and  a  Saviour ;  there  is 
none  beside  me.  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all 
the  ends  of  the  earth  :  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none 
else.      I  have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word  is  gone  out  of 


BIBLE   POETRY. 


83 


my  mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return,  that 
unto  me  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  shall 
swear"  (Isaiah  xlv.  20-23).  But,  despite  the  vigour  of 
this  declaration,  the  Jahveh  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
too  little  superior  to  the  graven  images  denounced  by 
the  Decalogue  ;  and  the  Christians  who  still  see  perfec- 
tion in  Jahveh  have  not  advanced  far  beyond  the  worship 
of  the  wooden  god. 

Such  examples  as  we  have  already  given  demonstrate 
beyond  doubt  the  human  qualities,  not  always  of  the 
highest  character,  of  Biblical  poetry.  They  show  con- 
clusively that  the  Bible  verse-makers  had  low  ideas  of 
God  and  man,  small  ideas  of  nature,  and  no  idea  what- 
ever of  duty  apart  from  obedience  to  a  supposed  Divine 
command.  None  of  them  sing  the  praises  of  virtue  for 
virtue's  sake.  The  sentiment  of  Socrates,  that  ''a  man 
who  is  good  for  anything  ought  not  to  calculate  the 
chance  of  living  or  dying ;  he  ought  only  to  consider 
whether  in  doing  anything  he  is  doing  right  or  wrong, 
acting  the  part  of  a  good  man  or  a  bad,"  was  quite 
beyond  them.  They  were  in  favour  of  bad  deeds,  which, 
they  supposed,  were  sanctioned  by  Deity;  and  good 
deeds,  in  their  judgment,  had  no  special  value  unless 
they  were  commanded  by  Jahveh.  Still,  it  would  be  a 
gross  misrepresentation  of  facts  to  say  that  there  are  no 
good  sentiments  poetically  expressed  by  the  contributors 
to  the  pages  of  the  Bible  ;  on  the  contrary,  there  are 
many,  and  we  now  proceed  to  give  a  few  examples. 

Job  recognised  that  the  world  did  not  always  appear 
to  be  governed  upon  just  principles— that  sometimes  the 
innocent  suffered  for  the  guilty,  and  the  wicked  gloried 
in  their  sin.     This  is  how  he  expresses  it  :— 

"  They  are  of  those  that  rebel  against  the  light ;  they 
know  not  the  ways  thereof,  nor  abide  in  the  paths  thereof. 

"  The  murderer  rising  with  the  light  killeth  the  poor 
and  needy,  and  in  the  night  is  as  a  thief." 


84 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


But  Job  did  not  think  that  the  wicked  went  altogether 
unpunished.  He  felt  sure  that  Nemesis  awaited 
them : — 

"  For  the  morning  is  to  them  even  as  the  shadow  of 
death  :  if  one  know  them,  they  are  in  the  terrors  of  the 
shadow  of  death. 

"  He  is  swift  as  the  waters  ;  their  portion  is  cursed  in 
the  earth  :  he  beholdeth  not  the  way  of  the  vineyards. 

"  Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow  waters :  so 
doth  the  grave  those  which  have  sinned. 

"  The  womb  shall  forget  him ;  the  worm  shall  feed 
sweetly  on  him  ;  he  shall  be  no  more  remembered  ;  and 
wickedness  shall  be  broken  as  a  tree"  (Job  xxiv.  17-20). 

Shakespeare  said : — 

"Murder,  though  it  have  no  tongue, 
Will  speak  with  most  miraculous  organ." 

And  so  indeed  it  does.  But  Job  seems  to  think— and 
the  sentiment  does  him  credit— that  even  the  undis- 
covered murderer  does  not  go  unpunished  in  this  world, 
whether  there  be  another  or  not. 

David  proclaims  the  highest  principle  for  the  regula- 
tion of  conduct  in  the  Theist's  life  when  he  says  :— 

"  O  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness  :  fear 
before  him,  all  the  earth. 

"  Say  among  the  heathen  that  the  Lord  reigneth  :  the 
world  also  shall  be  established  that  it  shall  not  be 
moved  :  he  shall  judge  the  people  righteously  "  (Psalm 
xcvi.  9,  10). 

For  a  cheerful  song  of  praise  take  Psalm  c. : — 

"  Make  a  joyful  noise  unto  the  Lord,  all  ye  lands. 

"Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness;  come  before  his 
presence  with  singing. 

"  Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God  :  it  is  he  that  hath 
made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves  ;  we  are  his  people,  and 
the  sheep  of  his  pasture. 

'*  Enter  into  his  gates  with  thanksgiving,  and  into  his 


BIBLE    POETRY. 


8:; 


courts  with  praise :  be  thankful  unto  him,  and  bless  his 
name. 

"  For  the  Lord  is  good ;  his  mercy  is  everlasting ;  and 
his  truth  endureth  to  all  generations." 

And  for  daring  metaphor  we  may  select : — 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.     O  Lord  my  God,  thou 
art  very  great ;  thou  art  clothed  with  honour  and  majesty. 
"Who  coverest  thyself  with  light  as  with  a  garment : 
who  stretchest  out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain. 

''Who  layeth  the  beams  of  his  chambers  in  the 
waters  :  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot :  who  walketh 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind. 

"Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits;  his  ministers  a 
flaming  fire"  (Psalm  civ.  1-4). 

The  Proverbs  also  contain  some  good  teachings  felici- 
tously expressed,  and  may  be  regarded  as  model  prose 
poems.     Here  are  a  few  : — 

"  Every  prudent  man  dealeth  with  knowledge  ;  but  a 

fool  layeth  open  his  folly. 

"A  wicked  messenger  falleth  into  mischief;  but  a 
faithful  ambassador  is  health. 

"Poverty  and  shame  shall  be  to  him  that  refuseth 
instruction ;  but  he  that  regardeth  reproof  shall  be 
honoured"  (Prov.  xiii.  16-18). 

"  Better  is  a  dry  morsel  and  quietness  therewith  than 
a  house  full  of  sacrifices  with  strife  "  (ibid,  xvii.  i). 

"  A  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  a  medicine ;  but  a 
broken  spirit  drieth  the  bones"  (ibid,  xvii.  22). 

"  Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  raging ;  and  who- 
soever is  deceived  thereby  is  not  wise"  (ibid,  xx.  i). 

"The  getting  of  treasures  by  a  lying  tongue  is  a 
vanity  tossed  to  and  fro  of  them  that  seek  death  "  (ibid, 
xxi.  6). 

"  It  is  better  to  dwell  in  a  corner  of  the  housetop  than 
with  a  brawling  woman  in  a  wide  house  "  (ibid,  xxi.  9). 

"A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen   than   great 


S6 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


riches,  and  loving  favour  rather  than  silver  and  gold  " 
(ibid,  xxii.  i). 

"  The  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth ;  but  the 
righteous  are  bold  as  a  lion"  (ibid,  xxviii.  i). 

But  for  voluptuous  imagery  take  the  following  passage 
from  the  Song  of  Solomon.  The  following  lines  are 
supposed  to  refer  to  the  graces  of  the  Church  (!)  : — 

"  How  beautiful  are  thy  feet  with  shoes,  O  prince's 
daughter !  the  joints  of  thy  thighs  are  like  jewels,  the 
work  of  the  hands  of  a  cunning  workman. 
.  "  Thy  navel  is  like  a  round  goblet,  which  wanted  not 
liquor ;  thy  belly  is  like  a  heap  of  wheat  set  about  with 
lilies. 

"Thy  two  breasts  are  like  two  young  roes  that  are 
twins  "  (Song  of  Solomon  vii.  1-3). 

Though  there  are  many  fine  passages  which  we  have 
not  quoted,  the  above  may  be  taken  as  fair  samples  of 
the  variety  of  styles  as  well  as  diversity  of  sentiment  in 
the  poetry  that  pervades  the  pages  of  the  Bible. 

Our  contention  is  that  the  poetry  of  the  early  books 
of  the  Bible  is  poor,  both  in  conception  and  execution, 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  more  recent  books.     And, 
further,  that  there  is  a  distinct  development — an    un- 
doubted evolution — in  all  the  poetry  of  the  Bible,  no 
less  than  in  poetical  effusions  of  profane  writers.     True 
it  is,  no  doubt,  that  one  poet  among  many  will  stand 
out  prominently  at  times  by  virtue  of  the  largeness  of 
his  mind,  of  the  loftiness  of  his  sentiments,  the  nobility 
of  his  ideals,  or  by  some  special  skill  he  possesses  in  the 
expression  of  his  ideas.     And,  just  as  we  may  say  that 
the  writers  of  such  books  as  Job,  Proverbs,  Psalms,  etc. 
— the  authorship  in  each  case  being  extremely  doubtful 
— are  conspicuously  fine  among  all  the  Biblical  singers, 
so  may  we  say  that  in  every  age  in  the  world's  history 
there  have  been  one  or  two  masters,  and  multitudes  of 
minor  poets,  and  that  each  has  expressed  up  to  the 


BIBLE   POETRY. 


87 


fullest  measure  of  his  ability  the  ideas  and  sentiments  of 
the  age  in  which  he  lived.  In  a  few  very  exceptional 
cases,  such  as  Homer,  Chaucer,  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
and  Shelley,  we  find  ideas  beyond  the  age  of  the  writers 

ideas  which  seem  to  embody  sentiments  that  are  new, 

or  are  soon  destined  to  become  universal.  From  the 
poets  of  the  world  we  may  glean  ideas  upon  which  to 
found  the  noblest  philosophy,  the  highest  morality,  the 
purest  religion— using  the  latter  word  in  a  purely  secular 

sense. 

Beginning  with  the  crudest  thoughts,  we  go  step  by 
step  until  we  are  able  to  build  up  a  veritable  pyramid 
of  ideas,  which  would  demonstrate  the  progressive  cha- 
racter of  humanity  in  all  ages— in  its  social,  political, 

and  moral  life. 

In  an  earlier  part  of  this  chapter  we  endeavoured  to 
point  out  that  beneath  the  undoubtedly  poetical  effusions 
of  the  Biblical  poets  we  frequently  found  low  and  coarse 
ideas  of  God  and  man,  and  debasing  ideas  concerning 
man's  work  and  his  conduct  towards  his  fellow  man. 
If  we  are  able  to  show  that  poets  who  laid  no  claim  to 
Divine  inspiration  were  capable  of  loftier  and  holier 
views  than  those  entertained  by  the  so-called  God- 
inspired  writers  of  antiquity,  we  shall  have  demonstrated 
either  that  the  Bible  poets  were  not  so  highly  developed 
as  most  people  imagine— that  is,  they  were  less  civilised 
than  their  descendants— or  that  uninspired  persons  are 
often  superior  both  mentally  and  morally  to  inspired 
ones,  in  which  case  the  value  of  inspiration  may  not  only 
be  doubted,  but  denied. 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  shown  that  the  poet  Homer  held 
very  lofty  ideas  in  respect  to  God  and  man  ;  but  when 
the  learned  and  esteemed  English  statesman  goes  as  far 
as  declaring  that  Homer  was  in  all  respects  equal  to 
Shakespeare,  we  may  regard  it  in  the  same  light  as  the 
exaggerated    statement    of    Algernon    Swinburne— the 


88 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


BIBLE   POETRY. 


89 


modern  Shelley— who  affirmed,  in  an  article  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  that  Shakespeare  had  only  one 
equal  in  the  world's  history,  as  poet,  philosopher,  and 
playwright,  and  that  was  Victor  Hugo. 

The  truth  is  that  every  man  of  genius  stands  alone 
and  unapproachable  in  his  own  particular  line  ;  and,  just 
as  no  man  of  good  sense  would  think  of  comparing  a 
great  tragedian  with  a  great  comedian— though  both 
were  actors— or  even  one  tragedian  with  another,  unless 
both  enacted  the  same  part,  so  no  great  poet  can  be 
justly  compared  with  another  master,  because  each  in 
his  own  line  has  great  qualities,  indefinable  qualities, 
which  make  comparison  impossible.  That  Shakespeare 
was  a  great  poet  all  men  acknowledge;  that  he  held 
lofty  ideas  of  humanity  is  unquestionable.  Take  his 
sublime  declaration :  "  What  a  piece  of  work  is  man  ! 
How  noble  in  reason  !  how  infinite  in  faculties  !  in  form, 
and  moving,  how  express  and  admirable  !  in  action,  how 
like  an  angel!  in  apprehension,  how  like  a  god!  the 
beauty  of  the  world  !  the  paragon  of  animals  !" 

Next  to  a  lofty  idea  of  man  is  a  noble  idea  of  nature 
as  a  whole— of  ideal  purity  and  beauty.  Of  the  beautiful 
m  nature  John  Keats  says  : — 

*'  A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever. 
Its  loveliness  increases  ;  it  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness,  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  quiet  for  us,  and  a  sleep 
Full  of  sweet  dreams,  and  health  and  quiet  breathing. 
Therefore,  on  every  morrow  are  we  wreathing 
A  flowery  band  to  bind  us  to  the  earth, 
Spite  of  despondence,  of  the  inhuman  dearth 
Of  noble  natures,  of  the  gloomy  days, 
Of  all  the  unhealthy  and  o'erdarkened  ways 
Made  for  our  searching.     Yes,  in  spite  of  all, 
Some  shape  of  beauty  moves  away  the  pall 
From  our  dark  spirits.     Such  the  sun,  the  moon, 
Trees,  old  and  young,  sprouting  a  shady  boon 
For  simple  sheep  ;  and  such  are  daffodils 


With  the  green  world  they  live  in  ;  and  clear  rills, 
That  for  themselves  a  cooling  covert  make 
'Gainst  the  hot  season  ;  the  mid -forest  brake, 
Rich  with  a  sprinkling  of  fair  musk  rose  blooms. 
And  such,  too,  is  the  grandeur  of  the  dooms 
We  have  imagined  for  the  mighty  dead  ; 
All  lovely  tales  that  we  have  heard  or  read  ; 
An  endless  fountain  of  immortal  drink 
Pourins:  into  us  from  the  heaven's  brink." 

If  men  have  any  opinion  of  God  at  all,  any  belief  in 
him,  it  is  well  to  have  an  elevated  one.  For  a  lofty  and 
majestic  view  take  Pope's.     He  says  : — 

*'  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  soul  ; 
That,  changed  through  all,  and  yet  in  all  the  same. 
Great  in  the  earth  as  in  the  ethereal  frame ; 
Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze. 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees  ; 
Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent. 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent  ; 
Breathes  in  our  soul,  informs  our  mortal  part  ; 
As  full,  as  perfect,  in  a  hair  as  heart ; 
As  full,  as  perfect,  in  vile  man  that  mourns 
As  the  rapt  seraph  that  adores  and  burns. 
To  him,  no  high,  no  low,  no  great,  no  small  : 
He  fills,  he  bounds, xonnects,  and  equals  all." 

Here,  then,  we  have  from  profane  writers  nobler  ideas 
than  any  that  entered  the  minds  of  the  Bible  poets. 
Bible  poets  sang  the  song  of  warfare ;  uninspired  poets 
have  sent  up  an  earnest  cry  for  peace.  Physical  and 
intellectual  freedom  were  as  nothing  to  the  Bible  poets  ; 
yet  for  ages  profane  poets  have  pleaded  for  liberty  in 
every  form  as  the  great  essential  to  progress.  Shall  we 
quote  Shelley,  or  Milton,  or  Burns  ?  Let  the  maligned 
Atheist  poet  speak  : — 

'*  Ode  to  the  Asserters  of  Liberty. 

**  Arise,  arise,  arise  ! 
There  is  blood  on  the  earth  that  denies  ye  bread. 
Be  your  wounds  like  eyes 


90  THE    BIBLE    AND    EVOLUTION. 

To  weep  for  the  dead,  the  dead,  the  dead. 
What  other  grief  were  it  just  to  pay  ? 
Your  sons,  your  wives,  your  brethren  were  they  ! 
Who  said  they  were  slain  on  the  battle  day  ? 

"Awaken,  awaken,  awaken  ! 
The  slave  and  the  tyrant  are  twin-born  foes  ; 

Be  the  cold  chains  shaken 
To  the  dust  where  your  kindred  repose,  repose  ; 
Their  bones  in  the  grave  will  start  and  move 
When  they  hear  the  voices  of  those  they  love 
Most  loud  in  the  holy  combat  above. 

*  Wave,  wave  high  the  banner 
When  Freedom  is  riding  to  conquest  by, 
Though  the  slaves  that  fan  her 
Be  Famine  and  Toil,  giving  sigh  for  sigh. 
And  ye  who  attend  her  imperial  car, 
Lift  not  your  hands  in  the  banded  war, 
But  in  her  defence  whose  children  ye  are. 

"  Glor>',  glory,  glor>'. 
To  those  who  have  greatly  suffered  and  done  ! 

Never  name  in  story 
Was  greater  than  that  which  ye  shall  have  won. 
Conquerors  have  conquered  their  foes  alone 
Whose  revenge,  pride,  and  power  they  have  overthrown. 
Rise  ye,  more  victorious,  over  your  own. 

*'  Bind,  bind  everj'  brow 
With  crownals  of  violet,  i\y,  and  pine  ; 

Hide  the  blood-stains  now 
With  hues  which  sweet  Nature  has  made  divine — 
Green  strength,  azure  hope,  eternity. 
But  let  not  the  pansy  among  them  be  ; 
Ye  were  injured,  and  that  means  memory." 

Or  again  : — 

' '  Rise  like  lions  after  slumber, 
In  unvanquishable  number ; 
Shake  your  chains  to  earth,  like  dew 
Which  in  sleep  had  fallen  on  you  ! 
Ye  are  many,  they  are  few  !" 

(^"  The  Masque  oj  Anarchy.'''' ) 

Intellectual  liberty  we  want,  that  we  may  discover  truth, 
to  the  end  that  we  may  act  upon  our  knowledge,  by 


BIBLE    POETRV. 


91 


living  a  career  of  virtue.  Truth  and  virtue,  these  are 
humanity's  most  glorious  crowns.  Of  truth  Russell 
Lowell  sings : — 

"  Truth  needs  no  champions  ;  in  the  infinite  deep 
Of  everlasting  soul  her  strength  abides ; 
From  nature's  heart  her  mighty  pulses  leap. 

Through  nature's  veins  her  strength  undying  tides. 

"  I  watch  the  circle  of  the  eternal  years, 
And  read  forever  in  the  storied  page 
One  lengthened  roll  of  blood  and  v^Tong  and  tears, 
One  onward  step  of  truth  from  age  to  age. 

""  No  power  can  die  that  ever  wrought  for  truth  ; 
Thereby  a  law  of  nature  it  became, 
And  lives  unwithered  in  its  sinewy  youth. 
When  he  who  called  it  forth  is  but  a  name." 

And  for  the  efficacy  of  virtue  we  quote  again  from 
Shelley  : — 

"The  virtuous  man, 
As  great  in  his  humility  as  kings 
Are  little  in  their  grandeur ;  he  who  leads 
Invincibly  a  life  of  resolute  good, 
And  stands  amid  the  silent  dungeon  depths 
More  free  and  fearless  than  the  trembling  judge. 
Who,  clothed  in  venal  power,  vainly  strove 
To  bind  the  impassive  spirit ;  when  he  falls 
His  mild  eye  beams  benevolence  no  more ; 
Withered  the  hand  outstretched  but  to  relieve  ; 
Sunk  reason's  simple  eloquence,  that  rolled 
But  to  appall  the  guilty.     Yes,  the  grave 
Hath  quenched  that  eye,  and  death's  relentless  frost 
Withered  that  arm  ;  but  the  unfading  fame 
Which  virtue  hangs  upon  its  votary's  tomb ; 
The  deathless  memory  of  that  man  whom  kings 
Call  to  their  mind  and  tremble  ;  the  remembrance 
With  which  the  happy  spirit  contemplates 
Its  well-spent  pilgrimage  on  earth, 
Shall  never  pass  away." 

Embodied  in  this  ideal  form,  we  find  the  highest  senti- 
ments of  all  the  ages.  What  a  vast  gulf  it  is  that 
separates  us  from  the  remote  past — the  ages  of  ignorance 


92 


THE    BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


and  superstition,  the  ages  of  lust  and  passion,  of  folly 
and  faith !  Yet  from  the  distant  past  to  the  present 
there  is  an  unbroken  chain  even  in  the  world  of  poetry. 
Every  poetic  effect  has  had  its  cause ;  and,  though  we 
cannot  put  our  finger  upon  every  link,  who  can  doubt 
that  there  is  a  perfect  chain  of  development  from  the 
earliest  dawn  of  poetry  till  the  sun  shall  reach  its  zenith  ? 
Tennyson  well  says  : — 

**  Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the 

suns ; 
Knowledge  comes,  but  wisdom  lingers,  and  I  linger  on  the  shore  ; 
And  the  individual  withers,  and  the  world  is  more  and  more. " 

And  this  is  true,  whether  there  be  a  God  behind  pheno- 
mena or  not ;  whether  the  evolution  of  the  universe  be 
the  work  of  a  Supreme  Intelligence,  or  result  only  from 
the  inherent  forces  of  nature  operating  by  invariable 
law  through  all  time. 


CHAPTER    X. 


BIBLE  ART. 


Emerson  on  Art — Hebrew  Ignorafice  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
— The  Anti-Sculpture  Commandment — The  Tabernacle 
— Imported  Art — Aaron^s  Fiasco — Hebrew  Music — 
Tragic  and  Comic  Elements  in  the  Bible — Greek  Art 
— Christian  Europe  Compared  with  Alexandria. 

What  is  art  ?  Emerson*  well  expresses  it  when  he  says  : 
"  The  conscious  utterance  of  thought  by  speech  or 
action,  to  any  end,  is  art.  From  the  first  imitative 
babble  of  the  child  to  the  despotism  of  eloquence,  from 
the  first  pile  of  toys  or  chip  bridge  to  the  masonry  of 
Minot  Rock  Lighthouse  or  the  Pacific  railroad,  from  the 
tattooing  of  the  Owhyhees  to  the  Vatican  Gallery,  from 
the  simplest  expedient  of  private  prudence  to  the 
American  Constitution,  from  its  first  to  its  last  works, 
art   is   the   Spirit's  voluntary  use  and  combination    of 

things  to  serve  its  end If  we  follow  the  popular 

distinction  of  works  according  to  their  aim,  we  should 
say  the  spirit,  in  its  creation,  aims  at  use  or  at  beauty, 
and  hence  art  divides  itself  into  the  useful  and  the 
fine  arts.  The  useful  arts  comprehend  not  only  those 
that  lie  next  to  instinct,  as  agriculture,  building,  weaving, 
etc. ;  but  also  navigation,  practtcal  chemistry,  and  the 
construction  of  all  the  grand  and  delicate  tools  and 
instruments  by  which  man  serves  himself;  as  language, 
the  watch,  the  ship,  the  decimal  cipher;  and  also  the 


*  (( 


Society  and  Solitude. " 


94 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


sciences,  so  far  as  they  are  made  serviceable  to  political 
economy."  t^^^mn-oi 

Further  on   Emerson  endeavours  to  show  how  "  the 

oZr'  '"?."''  "'"  'T""''"  '"^°  *h^  ^'^'  °f  every 
other.         They   are    the   re-appearance  of  one  mind 

working  in  many  materials  to   many  temporary   ends 
Raphael  paints  wisdom,  Handel  sings  it,  Phidias  carved 
. ,  Shakespeare  writes  it.  Wren  builds  it,  Columbus  sails 
n,  Luther  preaches  it,  Washington  arms  it,  Watt  mechan- 
ises  it. 

Whether  or  not  we  accept  Emerson's  theory  of  "  the 
re-appearance  of  one  mind,"  we  cannot  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed with  the  artistic  halo  which  he  flings  round  all 
forriis  of  human  life  and  effort.     But,  in  this  respect,  the 
Bibhcal  writers  are  remarkably  wanting.     They  were  too 
much  absorbed  with  religious  emotion  to  take  an  interest 
m  creating  things  of  beauty  in  the  world  around  them 
The  result  was,  as  Dr.  Barrows,  in  his  popular  "Biblical 
Geography  and    Antiquities,"  remarks  with  much  sim- 
plicity: "The  Hebrews  were  not  distinguished  for  their 
attamments  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  their  energies  being 
turned  in  another  and  a  higher  [!j  direction  In 

the  peaceful  arts  they  did  not  excel  the  neighbouring 
nations,  and  m  some  respects  fell  short  of  them  " 

Among  the  commandments  alleged  to  have  been  given 
by  Jahveh  to  Moses  from  Mount  Sinai,  the  second  runs 
as  follows  :      Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven 
image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in  heaven 
above,   or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that   is  in 
the   water   under  the   earth."     This   was   scarcely   the 
way    to   encourage   sculpture    and   painting.     And    as 
a    matter   of    fact,    the    Jews    never    shone    in    'that 
direction.     The  art  galleries   of   the   great   European 
museums  contain  no  Hebrew  masterpieces.     The  Taber 
nacle,  built  on  plans  drawn  by  the  Divine  hand  was  a 
mean  and  primitive  affair.     Solomon's  temple  was     n 


BIBLE    ART. 


95 


improvement  on  the  Tabernacle ;  but  the  artistic  merit 
was  altogether  due  to  Hiram,  a  Gentile.  The  people  of 
God  had  to  import  their  art,  as  Solomon  imported  his 
apes  and  horses  ! 

On  one  occasion  a  distinguished  Jew — Aaron  the  High 
Priest,  to  wit — tried  his  hand  at  sculpture  on  a  system 
that  would  astonish  our  Royal  Academicians.  Having, 
according  to  his  own  account,  thrown  a  heap  of  golden 
jewels  into  the  fire,  "there  came  out  this  calf,"  which  he 
proceeded  to  reduce  to  more  elegant  proportions  with  a 
graving-tool  (Exodus  xxxii.).  We  strongly  suspect  that 
the  alleged  reason  given  for  Moses'  destruction  of  the 
calf  is  not  the  correct  one.  His  education  had  probably 
imbued  him  with  some  notion  of  artistic  form,  and  he 
was  so  disgusted  at  Aaron's  amateur  performance  that 
he  speedily  consigned  it  to  oblivion. 

Music  and  singing  were  arts  also  cultivated  by  the 
Jews,  who  prophesied,  or,  as  we  should  say,  performed, 
on  harps,  cymbals,  and  lutes,  especially  upon  days  of 
public  rejoicing.  In  Numbers  the  following  instructions 
are  given  for  the  use  of  the  silver  trumpets  :  "  And  the 
Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Make  thee  two  trumpets 
of  silver ;  of  a  whole  piece  shalt  thou  make  them,  that 
thou  mayest  use  them  for  the  calling  of  the  assembly, 
and  for  the  journeying  of  the  camps.  And  when  they 
shall  blow  with  them,  all  the  assembly  shall  assemble 
themselves  to  thee  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation  "  (x.  1-3). 

There  are  many  instances  in  the  Bible  of  the  employ- 
ment of  instrumental  music  :  among  the  most  notable  are 
when  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  at  the  trumpet  blast 
(Joshua  vi.) ;  and,  again,  when  David  had  slain  Goliath 
the  children  of  Israel  returned  rejoicing  at  their  victory 
over  the  Philistines  (i  Samuel  xviii.  6).  That  the  Israel- 
ites often  indulged  in  song  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
they  sang  a  hymn  of  triumph  after  their  passage  through 


96 


BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


the  Red  Sea  (Exodus  xv.  1-22).  And  the  women  joined 
the  warriors  on  their  return  from  battle,  and  sang  the 
praises  of  David  and  Saul  as  an  expression  of  joy  at  their 
achievements  (i  Samuel  xviii.). 

In  my  judgment,  the  most  dramatic  story  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch is  that  of  "Joseph  the  Dreamer,"  who  is  put 
into  a  pit  by  his  jealous  brothers,  and  afterwards  rescued 
by  Reuben  and  sold  to  the  Ishmaelites,  who,  in  their  turn, 
dispose  of  him  to  Potiphar,  an  officer  in  the  service  of 
Pharaoh  in  Egypt.     The  story  of  Joseph  being  torn  to 
pieces  by  wild   beasts ;  the  grief  of  the   father  at  the 
supposed  death  of  his  favourite  son  ;  Joseph's  advance- 
ment in  Egypt ;  the  visit  of  his  brethren  in   search  of 
food ;  their  love  for  Benjamin  put  to  the  test ;  and  the 
clever  way  in    which    the  finale  is   brought   about    by 
Joseph  (metaphorically)  taking  off  his  beard,  and  ex- 
claiming  to  their  amazement, "  Behold  it  is  I,  Joseph,  your 
long-lost  brother,"  form  splendid  materials  for  a  strong 
sensational  melodrama. 

Most  Biblical  scholars  are  agreed  that  the  Book  of 
Job  is  not  a  Hebrew  book.  It  is,  however,  very  dramatic 
m  outline,  though  the  incidents  of  it  are  subordinated  to 
the  dialogue.  Materials  for  tragedy  and  comedy  are 
abundant  throughout  the  pages  of  the  Bible ;  and  these 
are  not  limited  to  the  Old  Testament,  but  may  be  found 
in  about  equal  proportions  in  the  New. 

In  the  Pentateuch  we  have  the  old   story  of  the  trial 
of  Abraham's  faith,  and  the  fine  scene  in  which  young 
Isaac  is  rescued  from  the  assassin's  knife,  wielded  by 
Abraham,  by  a  melodramatic  cry  of  "  Hold,  enough !" 
from  a  mysterious  voice  in  the  heavens ;  we  have  also 
the   stronger   tragedy   of    the    sacrifice    of    Jephthah's 
daughter ;  while,  for  comic  incident,  nothing  can  surpass 
the    rod-performances  of  Moses  and  Aaron  in  Egypt, 
and  the  peregrinations  of  the  prophet  Balaam  upon  the 
gentle  creature,  who,   to  the  usual  asinine  genius   for 


BIBLE    ART. 


97 


"12 


" 


going  the  wrong  road,  added  a  singular  conversational 
charm  ;  unless  it  be  Samson's  broad  jawbone  combat 
with  a  thousand  thick-skulled  Philistines,  or  Jonah's 
excursion  to  Nineveh.  Indeed,  viewed  from  a  Rational- 
istic standpoint,  the  Bible  is  a  book  full  of  entertain- 
ment and  amusing  stories. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  some  tragic  incidents 
in  the  life,  trial,  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus ;  but  these  arc 
plentifully  besprinkled  with  comedy. 

In  a  previous  chapter  w^e  have  dealt  with  the  poetry 
of  the  Bible ;  let  us  here  dwell  for  a  short  rime  on  the 
evolution  of  other  forms  of  art  indicated  above.     It  is 
certain  that,  long  before  the  Christian  era — at  least  five 
centuries  before  the  alleged  birth  of  Christ— the  Greeks 
had  made  great  progress  in  many   forms  of  art.     Greek 
sculpture,   Greek  painting  and  oratory,  had  reached  a 
high  degree  of  development  in  the  days  of  Socrates  and 
Plato,  as  George  Grote   has  shown  in   his   admirable 
"  History  of  Greece ;"  indeed,  it  is  very  questionable 
whether  modern  European  art  to-day  is  equal  in  some 
respects  to  that  of  ancient   Greece  or  ancient  Rome. 
There  is,  however,  a  reason  for  this.     It  should  be  re- 
membered that,  for  centuries,  the  arts  in   Europe  were 
almost  entirely  neglected,  while,  during  the  Dark  Ages, 
anything  pertaining  to  the  improvement  of  things  exclu- 
sively   "secular"    was   regarded    as   abhorrent.      Even 
language   was    allowed   almost  to  decay   in    the   tenth 
century.      As   Hallam  says*:  "When  Latin  had    thus 
ceased  to  be  a  living  language,  the  whole  treasury  of 
knowledge  was  locked  up  from  the  eyes  of  the  people. 
The  few  who  might  have  imbibed  a  taste  for  literature, 
if  books  had  been  accessible  to  them,  were  reduced  to 
abandon  pursuits  that  could  be  cultivated  only  through 
a  kind  of  education  not  easily  within  their  reach.    Schools 


«  (( 


Europe  During  the  Middle  Ages,"  page  575. 


98 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


confined  to  cathedrals  and  monasteries,  and  exclusively 
designed  for  the  purposes  of  religion,  afforded  no  en- 
couragement or  opportunities  to  the  laity.  The  worst 
effect  was  that,  as  the  newly-formed  languages  were 
hardly  made  use  of  in  writing,  Latin  being  still  preserved 
in  all  legal  instruments  and  public  correspondence,  the 
very  use  of  letters,  as  well  as  of  books,  was  forgotten. 
For  many  centuries,  to  sum  up  the  account  of  ignorance 
in  a  word,  it  was  rare  for  a  layman,  of  whatever  rank,  to 
know  how  to  sign  his  name.  Their  charters,  till  the  use 
of  seals  became  general,  were  subscribed  with  the  mark 
of  the  cross." 

While  art  was,  comparatively  speaking,  dormant  in 
Europe  until  the  seventeenth  century,  it  flourished  in 
Greece  and  Rome  for  centuries  before  and  after  the 
Christian  era.  Three  hundred  years  before  Christ,  as 
Draper  tells  us,*  "  Greek  architects  and  Greek  engineers 
had  made  Alexandria  the  most  beautiful  city  of  the 
ancient  world.  They  had  filled  it  with  magnificent 
palaces,  temples,  theatres.  In  its  centre,  at  the  inter- 
section of  its  two  grand  avenues,  which  crossed  each 
other  at  right  angles,  and  in  the  midst  of  gardens,  foun- 
tains, obelisks,  stood  the  mausoleum,  in  which,  em- 
balmed after  the  manner  of  the  Egyptians,  rested  the 

body  of  Alexander The  Alexandrian  Museum  was 

commenced  by  Ptolemy  Soter,  and  was  completed  by 

his    son,    Ptolemy    Philadelphus Its    sculptured 

apartments  contained  the  Philadelphian  Library,  and 
were  crowded  with  the  choicest  statues  and  pictures. 
This  library  comprised  four  hundred  thousand  (400,000) 
volumes,  which  were  eventually  increased  to  seven  hun- 
dred   thousand Alexandria  was    not  merely  the 

capital  of  Egypt;  it  was  the  intellectual  metropolis  of  the 
world.     Here  it  was  truly  said  that  the  genius  of  the 


•  (( 


Conflict  Between  Religion  and  Science,'*  pp.  18-30. 


BIBLE   ART. 


99 


East  met  the  genius  of  the  West,  and  this  Paris  of 
antiquity  became  a  focus  of  fashionable  dissipation  and 
universal  scepticism.  In  the  allurements  of  its  bewitch- 
ing society  even  the  Jews  forgot  their  patriotism.  They 
abandoned  the  language  of  their  forefathers  and  adopted 
Greek." 

The  philosophy  of  Aristotle  and  the  ethics  of  Zeno 
the  Stoic  formed  an  important  part  in  Greek  education 
for  hundreds  of  years,  and  helped  to  form  European 
thought  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity.  Whatever  art 
there  was  in  Europe,  however,  up  to  the  eighth  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  was  destroyed  during  the  many 
religious  wars  that  were  waged  between  this  and  the  six- 
teenth century,  or  was  lost  during  the  Dark  Ages.  The 
Arabs  alone  preserved  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and,  when 
art  got  a  chance  of  being  brought  out  of  obscurity  into 
the  light,  it  was  to  the  poor  Arabs  we  had  to  look  for 
assistance. 

Happily,  art  and  science  to-day  are  almost  free  from 
the  tyranny  of  bigots  in  high  places,  and,  with  the 
growth  of  intelligence  among  the  masses,  are  taking  their 
proper  places  as  the  most  noble  and  useful  aids  to  man's 
progress. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  BIBLE  GOD. 

Evolution  of  the  God  Idea — Fetishes — Tribal  Gods — 
J.  S.  Mill  on  Polytheism — Character  of  God  as  Illus- 
trated by  the  Bible — A  Tale  of  Horror — Shelley's 
Indignant  Protest — The  Bible  and  Woman — Argu- 
ments for  the  Existence  of  God — Phenomena  only  are 
Knowable, 


To  the  student  the  history  of  the  evolution  of  the  God 
idea  is  one  of  exceeding  interest  and  fascination.  In 
fact,  it  is  the  history  of  man's  earHest  explanations  of 
natural  phenomena.  If  we  go  back  in  imagination 
several  thousand  years,  we  shall  find  man  in  a  very  rude 
condition,  steeped  in  ignorance  respecting  Nature  and 
her  mode  of  action,  and  attributing  all  phenomena  to 
living  creatures,  which  he  believed  to  possess  qualities 
far  transcending  his  own.  Man's  first  objects  of  worship 
were  fetishes.  In  the  course  of  ages,  however,  he 
began  to  see  that  he  owed  much  of  the  pleasure  of  his 
existence  to  natural  forces — to  the  sun,  to  seas,  rivers, 
lakes,  etc.  To  these,  therefore,  he  transferred  his  affec- 
tions, and  made  them  the  objects  of  his  worship.  By 
and  by,  as  man  developed,  he  began  to  see  that,  how- 
ever wonderful  were  the  effects  produced  by  the  great 
forces  about  him,  these  were  not  intelligent,  nor  were 
they  uniformly  beneficial.  Consequently,  he  imagined 
intelligent  spirits  behind  these  forces;  and  these,  in 
their  turn,  became  his  gods. 


THE   BIBLE   GOD. 


lOI 


When  men  had  formed  themselves  into  tribes  and 
nations,  they  established  gods — tribal  deities — of  their 
own  manufacture ;  imaginary  beings,  but  real  enough  to 
the  ignorant  people  who  believed  in  them ;  and  to  these 
they  attributed  all  sorts  of  extraordinary  powers.  Among 
the  Hindoos,  Brahma  was  such  a  god ;  among  the  Per- 
sians, Ormuzd.  The  Mohammedan's  God  was  Allah  ; 
while  the  Jewish  and  Christian  God  was  either  Elohim 
or  Jahveh — i.e.^  Jehovah.  Two  distinct  gods  at  least 
are  described  by  the  writers  of  Genesis — the  Elohim  of 
the  first  chapter  and  the  Jehovah  of  the  second  and 
many  subsequent  chapters.  These  gods  were  believed 
to  rule  and  govern  the  universe ;  but  more  particularly 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  preservation  and  progress 
of  the  Jewish  race. 

The  highest  attributes  were  assigned  to  Jahveh,  who 
ultimately  became  the  only  god  of  the  Jewish  people. 
That  the  belief  in  a  plurality  of  gods  is  a  perfectly 
natural  belief  in  a  low  order  of  mind  is  seen  by  the  fact 
that  nearly  all  savage  races  attribute  the  multifarious 
phenomena  of  the  universe  to  a  variety  of  gods  differing 
in  power  and  goodness.  John  Stuart  Mill  says*  :  ''  For 
a  long  time  the  supposition  appeared  forced  and  un- 
natural that  the  diversity  we  see  in  the  operations  of 
nature  can  all  be  the  work  of  a  single  will.  To  the 
untaught  mind,  and  to  all  minds  in  pre-scientific  times, 
the  phenomena  of  nature  seem  to  be  the  result  of  forces 
altogether  heterogeneous,  each  taking  its  course  quite 
independently  of  the  others ;  and,  though  to  attribute 
them  to  conscious  wills  is  eminently  natural,  the  natural 
tendency  is  to  suppose  as  many  independent  wills  as 
there  are  distinguishable  forces  of  sufificient  importance 
and  interest  to  have  been  remarked  and  named.  There 
is  no  tendency  in  polytheism  as  such  to  transform  itself 


*  Essa    on  "Theism." 


I02 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


spontaneously  into  monotheism.  It  is  true  that  in  poly- 
theistic systems  generally  the  deity  whose  special  attri- 
butes inspire  the  greatest  degree  of  awe  is  usually 
supposed  to  have  the  power  of  controlling  the  other 
deities ;  and  even  in  the  most  degraded  perhaps  of  all 
such  systems,  the  Hindoo,  adulation  heaps  upon  the 
divinity  who  is  the  immediate  object  of  adoration 
epithets  like  those  habitual  to  believers  in  a  single  god. 
But  there  is  no  real  acknowledgment  of  one  governor. 
Every  god  normally  rules  his  particular  department, 
though  there  may  be  a  still  stronger  god  whose  power, 
when  he  chooses  to  exert  it,  can  frustrate  the  purposes 
of  the  inferior  divinity.  There  could  be  no  real  behef 
in  one  creator  and  governor  until  mankind  had  begun 
to  see  in  the  apparently  confused  phenomena  which 
surrounded  them  a  system  capable  of  being  viewed  as 
the  possible  working  out  of  a  single  plan.  This  concep- 
tion of  the  world  was  perhaps  anticipated  (though  less 
frequendy  than  is  often  supposed)  by  individuals  of 
exceptional  genius ;  but  it  could  become  common  only 
after  a  rather  long  cultivation  of  scientific  thought." 

Among  the  attributes  ascribed  by  the  Jews  to  their 
God  Jahveh  were  infinite,  omniscient,  omnipresent, 
omnipotent,  and  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness.  Now, 
nothing  can  be  clearer  to  the  scientific  mind  than  that 
the  attributes  claimed  by  the  theologian  for  his  Deity 
are  all  impossible  qualities,  and  cannot  co-exist  in  one 
being.  Infinity,  omniscience,  omnipresence,  omnipo- 
tence, and  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  these  are  but 
the  attributes  of  man  very  much  exaggerated.  Man  is 
finite ;  God  is  made  infinite.  Man  has  a  small  degree  of 
power  or  might ;  God  is  said  to  be  almighty.  Man  has 
a  little  wisdom ;  God  is  infinitely  wise.  Man  displays  a 
little  goodness  sometimes ;  for  God  it  is  claimed  that  he 
is  infinitely  good  at  all  times.  But  how  is  it  possible 
lor  God  to  be  infinite  if  he  exists  apart  from  the  universe  ? 


THE    BIBLE   GOD. 


103 


How  can  God  know  anything  if  there  is  nothing  out- 
side of  him  to  know  ?  How  can  he  be  intelligent  if  he 
is  not  an  organised  being  with  thinking  faculties  ?  And 
he  who  possesses  thinking  faculties  can  never  be  said  to 
be  omniscient,  because  every  day's  experience  brings 
additional  knowledge  to  the  mind  that  perceives,  reflects, 
and  judges.  Let  us  for  a  moment  consider  the  attri- 
butes of  the  Bible  God,  and  see  how  far  they  accord 
with  the  description  given  of  them  by  believers. 

Jahveh  is  alleged  to  be  infinite,  yet  when  we  refer  to 
the  Bible  we  find  that  the  Bible  God  walks  (Gen.  iii.  8), 
talks  (Deut.  v.  24),  smells  (Gen.  viii.  21),  works  (Gen.  ii. 
2),  rests  (Gen.  ii.  2).  We  are  told  that  he  is  unchangeable, 
yet  we  find  upon  examination  that  the  Bible  God  re- 
pents (Gen.  vi.  6).  We  are  informed  that  he  is 
all  good,  yet  we  find  that  God  curses  (Gen.  iii.  14), 
hardens  men's  hearts  (Ex.  xiv.  4),  delivers  men  into 
the  Devil's  power  (Job  ii.  6),  punishes  the  guiltless 
(i  Sam.  XV.  3),  creates  evil  (Is.  xlv.  7),  makes  some  men 
the  slaves  of  others  (Ex.  xxi.  2),  and  orders  the  whole- 
sale slaughter  of  men,  women,  and  children  (i  Sam.  xv.). 
Indeed,  as  Mr.  G.  W.  Foote  says*  :  "  Jehovah  never  had 
the  faintest  idea  of  justice  until  the  Jews  had  sufficiently 
progressed  to  give  him  lessons  in  that  virtue,  and  he 
heartily  detested  every  sign  of  mental  freedom.  He  was 
so  *  jealous  '  that  he  visited  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  of  those  who  neglected  him  for  three  or 
four  generations.  According  to  the  thirteenth  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  he  commanded  his  'holy  people'  to 
stone  to  death  any  person  who  broached  new  ideas  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  even  though  the  heretic  were 
bound  to  them  by  the  dearest  tie  of  friendship  or  blood. 
The  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  the  same  book  contains  a 
list  of  the  curses  he  would  inflict  on  them  if  they   *  went 


«  (( 


The  God  the  Christians  Swear  By,"  p.  o. 


I04 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


THE    BIBLE   GOD. 


105 


after  other  gods.'     It  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  denun- 
ciations in  all  literature In  return  for  the  undivided 

worship  of   his  chosen  people,  God  promised,  and  in 
some  cases  gave  them,  many  advantages  at  the  expense 
of  their  neighbours.     He  told  them  to  borrow  of  the 
Egyptians  without  the  remotest  intention  of  paying  them 
back.      He  forbade  them  to  practise  usury  with  each 
other;    but   permitted   them    to   practise    it   with    the 
'stranger,'  so  that  no  alien  should  be  able  to  say  to 
them,  'I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in.'     He 
told  them  that  they  should  lend  unto  many  nations,  but 
never  borrow ;  that  he  should  make  them  the  head,  and 
not  the  tail.     He  depopulated  whole  districts  for  them 
to  inhabit,  and  carried  out  the  process  in  the  most  hellish 
manner,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex.     And  all  this  was 
done  solely  through  his  good  pleasure,  and  not  because 
the  Jews  were  any  better  than  the  populations  who  were 
exterminated;  for  we  are  expressly  told  that  they  did 
*  more  evil  than  did  the  nations  whom  the  Lord  destroyed 
before  the  children  of  Israel.'     Moral  obligations  do  not 
concern  him.     He  claims  the  potter's  right  over  the  clay, 
and  smashes  one  vessel  and  preserves  another,  without 
any  respect  to  their  merits.     He  '  hath  made  all  things 
for  himself;  yea,  even  the  wicked  for  the  day  of  evil.' 
The  saint  who  goes  to  heaven  and  the  sinner  who  goes 
to  hell  are  both  '  elected '  by  his  grace ;  and  the  latter 
has  no  more  right  to  complain  than  the  dying  pauper, 
who,  when  he  resented  the  statement  that  he  was  going 
to  hell,  was  told  that  he  ought  to  be  thankful  there  was 
a  hell  to  go  to." 

This  is  undoubtedly  a  strong  statement  of  the  case ; 
but  a  careful  perusal  of  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ  will 
show  that  it  is  as  true  as  it  is  vigorous. 

The  savagery  of  this  Jewish  God  we  have  already 
dwelt  upon  in  a  previous  chapter  ;  but,  in  order  the  more 
vividly  to  show  the  horrid  depth  to  which  Jahveh  could 


descend,  we  will  ask  our  readers  to  ponder  well    the 
following  passage  from  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Deute- 
ronomy :  "  When  thou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight 
against  it,  then  proclaim  peace  unto  it.     And  it  shall  be, 
if  it  make  thee  answer  of  peace,  and  open  unto  thee, 
then  it  shall  be  that  all  the  people  that  is  found  therem 
shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  serve  thee. 
And  if  it  will  make  no  peace  with  thee,  but  will  make 
war  against  thee,  then  thou  shalt  besiege  it :  and  when 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  delivered  it  into  thine  hands, 
thou  Shalt  smite  every  male  thereof  with  the  edge  of  the 
sword  :    but  the  women,  and  the  little  ones,  and  the 
cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the  city,   even  all  the   spoil 
thereof,  shalt  thou  take  unto  thyself;   and  thou  shalt 
eat  the  spoil  of  thine  enemies,  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  given  thee.     Thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  all  the  cities 
which  are  very  far  off  from  thee,  which  are  not  of  the 
cities  of  these  nations.     But  of  the  cities  of  these  people, 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  doth  give  thee  for  an  inherit- 
ance, thou   shalt   save   alive   nothing   that   breatheth. 
Can  anything  more  villainously  barbarous  be  conceived  ? 
All  the  little  ones  to  be  ruthlessly  slaughtered,  and  the 
women  to  be  given  over  to  a  horde  of  soldiers  to  satisfy 
their  brutal  and  lustful  natures ;  and  thirty-two  virgins 
to  be  preserved  as  a  tribute  to  the  Lord !  (Num.  xxxi. 
40)      In  all  the  literature  of  the  world  there  is  nothing 
more  detestably  wicked  than  this.     Truly  does  Shelley 


sing*  : — 


*'The  name  of  God 
Has  fenced  about  all  crime  with  holiness  ; 
Himself  the  creature  of  his  worshippers  ; 
Whose  names  and  attributes  and  passions  change— 
Seeva,  Buddh,  Fob,  Jehovah,  God,  or  Lord-- 
Even  with  the  human  dupes  who  build  his  shrmes 
Still  serving  o'er  the  war-polluted  world 

♦  **  Queen  Mab." 


/ 


Io6  THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 

For  desolation's  watchword  ;  whether  hosts 

Stain  his  death-blushing  chariot  wheels,  as  on 

Triumphantly  they  roll,  whilst  Brahmins  raise 

A  sacred  hymn  to  mingle  with  the  groans  ; 

Or  countless  partners  of  his  power  divide 

His  tyranny  to  weakness  ;  or  the  smoke 

Of  burning  towns,  the  cries  of  female  helplessness, 

Unarmed  old  age,  and  youth  and  infancy, 

Horribly  massacred,  ascend  to  heaven 

In  honour  of  his    a  Tie  ;  or,  last  and  worst. 

Earth  groans  l>ener,th  religion's  iron  age. 

And  priests  dare  babble  of  a  God  of  peace 

Even  whilst  their  hands  are  red  with  guiltless  blood, 

Murdering  the  while,  uprooting  every  germ 

Of  truth,  exterminating,  spoiling  all, 

Making  the  earth  a  slaughter-house." 

The  treatment  of  women  as  sanctioned  by  Jahveh  is 
an  indication  of  the  barbarous  condition  of  the  Jewish 
people  under  Moses  and  the  other  early  leaders  of  that 
ancient  race.  Jahveh  sanctioned  polygamy,  and  allowed 
women  to  be  treated  as  chattels  without  a  word  of  dis- 
approval ;  and  even  in  the  New  Testament  we  find  very 
few  elevating  ideas  with  regard  to  the  position  of  woman 
in  society.  Throughout  the  pages  of  the  Bible  she  is 
referred  to  as  inferior  to  man ;  and  the  lesson  is  con- 
standy  inculcated  that  it  is  the  duty  of  women  to  keep 
themselves  in  subjection,  and  to  obey  their  husbands' 
behests  in  all  things. 

Such,  then,  are  some  of  the  crude  and  revolting  ideas 
attributed  to  Jahveh  by  those  who  were  specially  privi- 
leged to  be  in  communication  with  him.  In  short,  the 
God  of  the  Jewish  imagination  was  a  small-minded, 
tyrannical  giant,  who  was  supposed  to  reside  somewhere 
above  the  clouds,  and  who  came  down  occasionally  to 
inspect  his  earthly  dominions,  and  to  attend  to  the 
machinery  by  which  they  were  governed. 

Naturally,  in  course  of  time  there  arose  men  with 
goodness  of  heart  and  courage  enough  to  repudiate  the 


THE    BIBLE   GOD. 


107 


Hebrew  conception  of  God.     These  were  Deists ;  they 
formulated  on  their  part  an  idea  of  God  that  was  equally 
a  figment  of  the  imagination — a  pure,  ethereal  sort  of 
being,  without  body,  parts,  or  passions.     In  fact,  their 
God  is  the  one  so  well  described  by  Cur^  Meslier  in 
his  little  work,  "  Bon  Sens."     The  writer  asks,  '*  Qu'est- 
ce  -que  Dieu  ?"  to  which  he  cleverly  replies  :  "  C'est  un 
mot  abstrait  fait  pour  designer  une  force  cachee  de  la 
nature ;    ou  c'est   un   point   matb.jmatique   qui   n'a   ni 
longueur,  ni  largeur,  ni  profondeui  "  ("  It  is  an  abstract 
word,  coined  to  designate  the  hidden  force  of  nature ; 
or,  rather,  it  is  a  mathematical   point   having   neither 
length,  breadth,  nor  thickness  ").     For  this  ethereal  God 
they  put  forth  various  arguments,  with  a  view  of  demon- 
strating his  existence.     One  set  of  reasoners  adopt  the 
a  /r/<?r/ method  of  argument;  another  the  a  posteriori  ; 
while  a  third  prefer  a  mixture  of  both.     But  they  are  all 
alike  unable  to  demonstrate  to  the  intelligent  m^'nd  that 
an  infinite,    all-wise,    all-good,    and   all-powerful    Deity 
exists,  who  is  the  author  and  governor  of  the  universe. 
The  a  priori  reasoners  argue  that  God  is  the  ''great  first 
cause."     But  they  do  not  inquire.  What  caused  God? 
nor  do  they  see  that  in  an  infinite  regression  there  can 
be  no  first  cause.     If  God  is  infinite,  God  is  all  that  is  ; 
yet  these  Theists  argue  for  a  universe  apart  from  God. 
Nor  are  they  more  fortunate  in  their  a  posteriori  reason- 
ing.    They  argue  for   a   designer   of  nature  who   was 
himself  undesigned.     They  argue  for  an  all-powerful  and 
all-good  designer ;  but  they  close  their  eyes  to  all  the 
evil  in  the  universe. 

Those  who  argue  that  all  men  are  conscious  of  the 
existence  of  God  overlook  the  fact  that  there  are  thou- 
sands of  Atheists  and  Agnostics  in  the  world  who 
believe  in  the  indestructibility,  and  consequently  the 
eternity,  of  matter.  If  matter  is  eternal,  it  is  uncreated  ; 
indeed,  the  word   "created"  has   no   meaning   to  the 


io8 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


scientific  mind,  which  knows  nothing  about  the  origina- 
tion of  substance,  but  knows  only  the  phenomena  and 
phenomenal  changes  by  which  the  unknown  substance 
reveals  itself  to  human  consciousness. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

JESUS  AS  GOD. 

God  a  Magnified  Man—Macaulay  on  the  Natural 
Craving  for  Images— The  Development  of  Chrisfs 
Divinity — Voltaire  on  the  Socinian  .Doctrine — Diffi- 
culties Surrounding  the  Dogma  of  Christ's  Godhead 
—Suspicions  as  to  his  Sanity— Problems  Suggested 
by  his  Agony  and  Despair—/.  S.  Milfs  Estimate  of 
the  Man  Jesus. 

Feuerbach  truly  affirms  that  "every  man  makes  his 
own  God."     Martin   Luther  seems  to   have  supported 
this  view,  for  he  said  :  "  God  is  a  blank  sheet  of  paper, 
upon  which  nothing  is  written  but  that  which  you  your- 
self write."     The  highest  conception  that  any  man  can 
form  of  God  is  that  of  a  great  man— great  in  every 
respect  :  gigantic  in  proportions,  mighty  in  power,  noble 
in  action,  magnanimous  in  character.     Does  it  not  occur 
to  every  rational  being  that  a  God  who  is  not  a  person 
is  no  God  at  all  ?     The  cultured  few  may  define  God  in 
terms  of  an  abstract  character;  but  the  masses  think 
only  of  the  concrete.     Macaulay  observes*  :  "  What  is 
spirit  ?     What  are  our  own  minds,  the  portion  of  spirit 
with   which   we    are    best    acquainted?     We    observe 
certain   phenomena.     We   cannot    explain    them    into 
material  causes.     We,  therefore,  infer  that  there  exists 
something  which  is  not  material.     But  of  this  something 
we  have  no  idea.     We  can  define  it  only  by  negatives. 


♦  Essay  on  *'  Milton.' 


no 


THE   BIBLE  AND   EVOLUTION. 


*   1 


We  can  reason  about  it  only  by  symbols.     We  use  the 
word,  but  we  have  no  image  of  the  thing ;  and  the  busi- 
ness of  poetry  is  with   images,  and   not  with   words. 
The  poet  uses  words  indeed ;  but  they  are  merely  the 
instruments  of  his  art,  not  its  objects.     They  are  the 
materials  which  he  is  to  dispose  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
present  a  picture  to  the  mental  eye.     And,  if  they  are 
not  so  disposed,  they  are  no  more  entitled  to  be  called 
poetry  than  a  bale  of  canvas  and  a  box  of  colours  to 
be    called    a    painting.     Logicians    may   reason   about 
abstractions.     But  the  great  mass  of  mankind  can  never 
feel    an    interest   in    them.     They   must   have   images. 
The  strong  tendency  of  the  multitude  in  all  ages  and 
nations  to  idolatry  can  be  explained  on  no  other  prin- 
ciple.    The  first   inhabitants  of  Greece,  there  is  some 
reason  to  believe,  worshipped  one  invisible  Deity.     But 
the  necessity  of  having  something  more  definite  to  adore 
produced,  in  a  few  centuries,  the  innumerable  crowd  of 
gods   and    goddesses.     In    like    manner,    the    ancient 
Persians  thought  it  impious  to  exhibit  the  creator  under 
a  human  form.     Yet  even  these  transferred  to  the  sun 
the  worship  which  speculatively  they    considered  due 
only  to  the  supreme  mind.     The  history  of  the  Jews  is 
the  record  of  a  continued  struggle  between  pure  Theism, 
supported   by   the    most    terrible    sanctions,    and    the 
strangely  fascinating  desire  of  having  some  visible  and 
tangible   object   of    adoration.     Perhaps   none   of    the 
secondary  causes  which  Gibbon    has  assigned  for  the 
rapidity  with  which  Christianity  spread  over  the  world, 
while  Judaism  scarcely  ever  acquired  a  proselyte,  ope- 
rated   more   powerfully   than    this   feeling.     "God   the 
uncreated,  the  incomprehensible,  the  invisible,  attracted 
few  worshippers.     A  philosopher  might  admire  so  noble 
a  conception ;    but  the  crowd  turned  away  in  disgust 
from  words  which  presented  no  image  to  their  minds." 
But  the  question  is :  Is  there  behind  the  so-called 


JESUS   AS   GOD. 


Ill 


"noble  conception"  of  the  Theist  any  reality  to  be 
presented  ?  A  facetious  friend  of  mine  once  observed 
"  that  the  only  idea  a  person  could  have  of  God  was  an 
idea  of  an  idea,  of  which  nobody  had  the  slightest  idea." 
If  we  subtract  from  any  description  of  the  Divine  Being 
all  distinctly  human  qualities,  nothing  is  left  but  a  vague 
and  unsubstantial  shadow  of  a  shade. 

Many  Christians  who  appear  to  have  very  little  faith 
in  Jahveh  speak  of  Jesus  as  "  the  very  God."  The  man 
Jesus  in  reality  embodies  their  highest  conception  of 
Deity.  Mr.  Spurgeon  rarely  speaks  of  the  God  of  the 
Old  Testament,  but  expends  all  his  eloquence  in  pane- 
gyric upon  the  Godhead  of  Christ.  But  the  idea  of 
Jesus  as  a  God  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a  new  one. 
It  is,  indeed,  the  result  of  ages  of  development.  Vol- 
taire says*  :  "  The  Socinians,  who  are  regarded  as  blas- 
phemers, do  not  recognise  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
They  dare  to  pretend,  with  the  philosophers  of  antiquity, 
with  the  Jews,  the  Mohammedans,  and  most  other 
nations,  that  the  idea  of  a  God-man  is  monstrous ;  that 
the  distance  from  God  to  man  is  infinite  ;  and  that  it  is 
impossible  for  a  perishable  body  to  be  finite,  immense, 
or  eternal.  They  have  the  confidence  to  quote  Euse- 
bius.   Bishop  of  Caesarea,  in  their  favour,  who,  in  his 

*  Ecclesiastical  History,'  book  i.,  chapter  ix.,  declares 
that  it  is  absurd  to  imagine  the  uncreated  and  unchange- 
able nature  of  Almighty  God  taking  the  form  of  a  man. 
They  cite  the  fathers  of  the  Church— Justin  and  Ter- 
tullian,  who  have  said  the  same  thing;  Justin  in  his 

*  Dialogue  with  Trypho,'  and  TertuUian  in  his  'Dis- 
course against  Praxeas.'  They  quote  St.  Paul,  who 
never  calls  Jesus  Christ   God,  and  who  calls  him  vian 

*  "  Philosophical  Dictionary."  The  great  critic's  apparent  con- 
demnation of  the  Socinians'  liberal  doctrine  is,  of  course,  only 
ironical. 


112 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


very  often.  They  carry  their  audacity  so  far  as  to 
affirm  that  the  Christians  passed  three  entire  ages  in 
forming  by  degrees  the  apotheosis  of  Jesus,  and  that 
they  only  raised  this  astonishing  edifice  by  the  example 
of  pagans,  who  had  deified  mortals.  At  first,  according 
to  them,  Jesus  was  only  regarded  as  a  man  inspired  by 
God,  and  then  as  a  creature  more  perfect  than  others. 
They  gave  him  some  time  after  a  place  above  the  angels, 
as  St.  Paul  tells  us.  Every  day  added  to  his  greatness. 
He  in  time  became  an  emanation  proceeding  from  God. 
This  was  not  enough  ;  he  was  born  before  time.  At 
last  he  was  made  God,  substantial  with  God.  Crellius, 
Volquelsius,  Natalis,  Alexander,  and  Hornbeck  have 
supported  all  these  blasphemies  by  arguments  which 
astonish  the  wise  and  mislead  the  weak.  Above  all, 
Faustus  Socinius  spread  the  seeds  of  this  doctrine  in 
Europe  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  new 
species  of  Christianity  was  established.  There  were 
already  more  than  three  hundred." 

Let  us  now  briefly  consider  in  what  sense  Jesus  may 
be  regarded  as  a  God.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  not  an 
infinite  but  a  finite  being.  He  was  not  eternal,  but  was 
born  like  any  other  human  being,  and  was  one  of  a 
numerous  family,  his  father  being  Joseph,  a  carpenter, 
and  his  mother  a  certain  lady  who  is  referred  to  by 
the  largest  section  of  the  Christian  Church  as  the 
Virgin  Mary.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  Jesus  was  all- 
wise.  Take  one  illustration.  He  did  not  know  that  it 
was  folly  to  curse  a  fig-tree  which  did  not  bear  fruit  out 
of  season  (Matt.  xxi.  19).  Nor  was  he  infinite  in  his 
goodness.  He  said  that  he  came  only  to  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel  (Matt.  xv.  24) ;  and,  though  it  is 
subsequently  stated  that  he  enlarged  his  mission  so  as 
to  include  all  mankind,  the  passage  in  which  he  is 
alleged  to  have  made  the  declaration  of  such  wide- 
reaching  import  is  admitted  by  most  Biblical  commen- 


JESUS   AS   GOD. 


113 


tators  to  be  an  interpolation  (Mark  xvi.  15).  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  high  estimates  formed  of  Jesus 
by  such  eminent  writers  and  scholars  as  Ernest  Renan 
and  John  Stuart  Mill  are  based  on  the  view  that  Jesus 
was  merely  man.  Both  these  thinkers  repudiate  as 
altogether  absurd  the  idea  of  Jesus  being  God.* 

Thomas  Paine  said  that  he  admired  the  personal 
characteristics  of  Jesus.  Colonel  Ingersoll  says  the 
same.  Mr.  Charles  Watts  and  the  present  writer  have 
over  and  over  again,  in  lectures  and  essays,  spoken  in 
terms  of  admiration  of  many  of  the  excellent  qualities 
in  the  character  of  Jesus.  But  this  is  in  no  wise  an 
admission  that  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  is  worthy  of 
such  admiration  if  regarded  in  the  character  of  a  God. 
Indeed,  I  agree  with  the  writer  who  said  that  "  the 
noblest  of  men  make  the  most  insignificant  of  gods." 
From  all  the  evidence  accessible  to  us,  it  seems  perfectly 
clear  that  Jesus  was  an  enthusiast,  who  did  not  always 
assume  the  noblest  bearing  towards  those  who  differed 
from  him,  and  who  not  only  condemned  his  opponents 
in  extravagantly  strong  terms,  but  urged  his  disciples  to 
take  an  even  more  offensive  course  (Mark  vi.  11).  Jesus 
indeed  sometimes  appeared  to  lose  his  mental  balance, 
so  much  so  that  his  own  friends  declared  that  he  was 
beside  himself  (Mark  iii.  21).  From  the  evidence 
afforded  by  the  Gospels,  Jules  Soury  concludes  that 
Jesus  suffered  periodically  from  congestion  of  the  brain, 
and  was  sometimes  insane,  t  Whether  this  theory  be 
true  or  false,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  some  of  the 
doings  of  Jesus  are  altogether  inexplicable  and  unjusti- 
fiable from  a  purely  rationalistic  standpoint.  Let  us 
grant  for  a  moment  that  it  was  possible  for  Jesus,  if  he 
were  really  God,  to  cast  out  devils.     But  we  strongly 


♦  See  Kenan's  "  Life  of  Jesus"  and  Mill's  **  Essay  on  Theism." 
t  See  "Jesus  and  Israel,"  by  Jules  Sour)^ 


114 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


deny  that  it  was  a  moral  act  to  send  the  poor  devils  into 
the  stomachs  of  a  number  of  inoffensive  pigs,  and  so 
disturb  their  tender  susceptibilities  as  to  drive  them  to 
solve  the  problem,  "To  be  or  not  to  be,"  by  a  hurried 
departure  to  a  watery  grave  (Mark  v.  13). 

If   we    accept  the  alleged    miracles   of    Jesus,   diffi- 
culties   still    confront    us.     We    may    admit    that    he 
walked  upon  the  sea ;  that  he  healed  Peter's  mother- 
in-law  of  a  great  fever ;  that  he  fed  five  thousand  hungry 
people  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  and  that  more 
fragments  were  taken  up  after  the  repast  than  would 
have  reconstituted  the  loaves  and  fishes  several  times 
over ;   that  he  cured  somebody  of  leprosy ;  made  the 
lame  to  walk,  the  deaf  to  hear,  and  the  blind  to  see  ; 
and  then  we  may  ask  how  it  was  that  a  being  who  was 
capable  of  performing  such  wonders  impressed  his  own 
disciples  so  little  that  in  the  hour  of  trouble  they  all 
forsook  him  and  fled   (Mark  xiv.  50)  ?     It  was  just  as 
though  he  were  some  poor  charlatan,  who  had  no  moral 
hold  on  his  followers.     If  Jesus  were  God,  it  is  strange 
that,  when  he  encountered  the  Devil,  who  asked  him  for 
proof  of  his  divinity,  he  allowed  his  distinguished  critic 
to   go   away    unconvinced  ?     Strange,   too,    that,  when 
Jesus  came  to  die,  he  prayed,  "  Oh,  my  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  "  (Matt.  xxvi.  39). 
If  Jesus  were  God,  he  must  have  known  that  to  let  the 
cup  pass  was  at  one  stroke  to  send  the  whole  of  mankind 
to  eternal  perdition.     Moreover,  he  surely  knew  his  own 
mind,  and  was  not  likely,   by  a  prayer  to  himself,  to 
change  his  own  immutable  will.     But  all  these  difficulties 
shrink  to  comparatively  small  proportions  beside  that 
which  is  involved  in  his  exclamation  in  the  last  agony  of 
all,  as  he  hung  stretched  upon  the  cross  :  '•''Eloi^  EIot\ 
lama   sabachthanir — "My    God,    my    God,   why   hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ?"     If  Jesus  were  God,  in  what  sense 
could  it  be  that  he  had  forsaken  himself?     If  he  had 


.1 


JESUS   AS   GOD. 


115 


come  to  die,  to  save  the  world,  was  this  extraordinary 
utterance  indicative  of  grief  at  having  to  undergo  such  a 
trying  ordeal?  Besides,  as  God,  Jesus  must  have 
known  that  he  could  not  die— that  an  eternal  being 
could  not  pass  through  the  agony  of  death  ;  or,  at  worst, 
that,  if  he  died,  his  invisible  spirit  possessed  the  power 
at  any  moment  to  resurrect  his  visible  body,  and  thus 
triumph  over  his  persecutors  and  murderers.  The 
Gospels  offer  no  explanation  of  these  enigmas.  The 
clergy  are  profuse  with  apologies ;  but  they  have  no 
satisfactory  answer  to  such  heretical  questions. 

Jesus,  it  seems  more  rational  to  suppose,  was  a 
man,  and  nothing  but  a  man.  He  had  his  faults  ;  but, 
taking  him  for  all-in-all,  he  was  a  splendid  sample  of  a 
good,  virtuous,  large-hearted  lover  of  his  kind,  and  a 
pioneer  of  progress.  And  it  is  an  ideal  Jesus,  created 
by  a  fertile  Christian  imagination,  that  is  deified  and 
made  the  object  of  Christian  worship.  Probably  Mill 
is  right  when  he  affirms  that  "  religion  cannot  be  said  to 
have  made  a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on  this  man  as  the 
ideal  representative  and  guide  of  humanity ;  nor,  even 
now,  would  it  be  easy,  even  for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a 
better  translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue,  from  the  abstract 
into  the  concrete,  than  to  endeavour  so  to  live  that 
Christ  would  approve  our  life."* 


•'  Essay  on  Theism.' 


THE    SOUL   AND    A    FUTURE    STATE. 


117 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  SOUL  AND  A  FUTURE  STATE. 

The  Old  Testament  Ignored  the  Immortality  of  the 
Soul — Opifiion  of  Ecclesiastes  on  Human  Life — 
Socrates — -Jesus — Cremation  and  the  Resurrection — 
Origin  of  the  Belief  in  Immortality — Pre-Natal  Exist- 
ence— Dr,  Baylee's  View — Relations  between  Intelli- 
gence and  Brain — Colonel  Olcott  on  the  Souls  of  Idiots 
— Dr.  Biichner  Declares  Mind  Inseparable  from  the 
Material  Organ. 

From  a  careful  examination  it  appears  that  the  Old 
Testament  writers  had  no  belief  in  the  existence  of  an 
immortal  element  in  man ;  for,  with  one  exception — that 
of  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes — the  Scriptures  are  silent  on 
the  subject.  Moses  said  nothing  about  it ;  Samuel  was 
equally  silent.  However,  the  writer  of  Ecclesiastes — 
alleged  to  have  been  Solomon — had  a  very  decided 
opinion  on  the  subject.  He  declared  dogmatically  : 
"For  that  which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befalleth 
beasts  :  even  one  thing  befalleth  them  :  as  the  one  dieth 
so  dieth  the  other ;  yea,  they  have  all  one  breath  ;  so 
that  a  man  hath  no  pre-eminence  above  a  beast :  for  all 
is  vanity.  All  go  unto  one  place  ;  all  are  of  the  dust, 
and  all  turn  to  dust  again.  Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of 
man  that  goeth  upward,  and  the  spirit  of  the  beast  that 
goeth  downward  to  the  earth  ?  Wherefore  I  perceive 
that  there  is  nothing  better  than  that  a  man  should 
rejoice  in  his  own  works ;  for  that  is  his  portion  :  for 
who  shall  bring  him  to  see  what  shall  be  after  him  ?" 
(Ecclesiastes  iii.   19-22).      Although   the   Jews,  before 


M 


the  age  of  Christ,  would  seem  to  have  had  no  belief 
in  a  future  state,  the  Greeks  very  early  formulated  their 
views  on  the  subject.  In  Plato's  "  Dialogues  "  we  have 
an  account  of  the  views  of  Socrates  on  the  question  ;  and, 
in  the  main,  he  agreed  with  Pythagoras,  who  held  that, 
just  in  proportion  as  a  man  lived  a  noble  life,  his  soul 
at  death  entered  a  higher  being,  while  the  soul  of  the 
man  who  lived  an  ignoble  career  descended  to  a  lower 
animal.  In  the  New  Testament  we  have  a  very  different 
view  advanced.  Nothing  is  said  about  the  immortal 
soul ;  but  the  theory  is  put  forward  that,  after  death, 
there  is  to  be  a  universal  resurrection,  not,  however,  of 
the  soul,  but  of  the  body  of  each  individual  born  into 
the  world.  Even  Jesus  himself  believed,  and,  as  the 
legend  goes,  gave  the  sanction  of  his  authority  to,  this 
•doctrine,  by  coming  bodily  out  of  the  grave  and  appear- 
ing to  his  disciples  as  though  to  demonstrate  the  truth 
of  a  material  resurrection.  And  this  belief  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  was  entertained  by  Christians  for  at 
least  eighteen  centuries  after  the  death  of  Christ. 
Indeed,  among  some  sects  the  belief  is  entertained  to 
this  day ;  and  it  certainly  appears  to  us  to  be  a  logical 
deduction  from  the  declarations  of  the  Gospels.  A  few 
years  ago  the  then  Bishop  of  Lincoln  went  so  far  as  to 
say,  in  a  letter  to  the  Daily  Telegraph,  that,  if  the  re- 
mains of  the  late  Lady  Dilke  were  cremated,  it  would 
seriously  interfere  with  the  resurrection  of  her  body  on 
the  last  day.  Some  wicked  "Infidels"  replied  by  asking 
the  learned  Bishop,  if  his  theory  were  true,  what  chance 
of  resurrection  there  would  be  for  the  Christian  martyrs 
who  were  burned  at  the  stake  :  but  the  Bishop  maintained 
a  discreet  silence. 

Among  all  sorts  of  religionists  there  has  reigned  a 
belief  in  the  existence  in  man  of  an  immortal  element 
called  the  soul,  which  it  is  supposed  will  endure  when 
the  organisation  has  ceased  to  work  and  the  body  has 


ii8 


THE   BIBLE  AND    EVOLUTION. 


gone  to  mingle  with  the  elements.  According  to  Dr. 
Tylor,  the  phenomena  of  dreams  suggested  this  belief  to 
the  mind  of  primitive  man.  At  nightfall,  when  the 
savage  laid  himself  down  to  sleep,  his  slumbers  were 
often  disturbed  by  dreams,  and  in  these  it  appeared  as 
if  a  part  of  him — or  rather  the  ego  itself — soared  away 
from  the  body,  and  visited  places  he  had  never  beheld 
in  his  waking  moments,  and  passed  through  trials  and 
troubles  he  knew  he  had  never  actually  experienced. 
This,  then,  gave  rise  to  the  belief  in  a  double  existence — 
the  transient  existence  of  the  body  and  the  ceaseless 
existence  of  the  *'  other  self,"  or  soul.  The  doctrine  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul  has  undergone  many  changes 
during  the  last  three  centuries.  Theologians  argue  that 
the  soul  is  associated  with  the  mind  of  man,  and  that 
man,  as  an  intelligent  being,  will  exist  in  another  life  for 
ever.  If  their  arguments  were  of  any  value,  they  would 
logically  be  bound  to  contend  that  the  soul  is  eternal, 
and  existed  before  its  entry  into  the  body.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  clergy  decline  to  take  this  ground. 
One  notable  exception  I  remember,  and  one  only. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Baylee,  in  his  debate  with  Mr.  Bradlaugh 
twenty  years  ago — a  debate  conducted  on  the  Socratic 
method  with  great  ability  on  both  sides — took  the  logical 
ground  that  man  had  always  existed. 

Mr.  Bradlaugh  asked  :  "  Am  I  eternal  ?" 

Dr.  Baylee  :  "  You  are." 

Mr.  Bradlaugh :  "Was  I  in  existence  before  I  was  born?" 

Dr.  Baylee:  "You  were." 

Mr.  Bradlaugh  :  "  Did  I  sin  before  I  was  born  ?" 

Dr.  Baylee  :  "  You  did." 

Mr.  Bradlaugh  :  "  If  I  had  not  been  born,  should  I 
have  suffered  '  eternal  damnation  '  for  that  sin  ?" 

Dr.  Baylee  :  "  You  would." 

Although  the  answers  of  Dr.  Baylee  may  strike  the 
Rationalist  as  highly  amusing,  they  are  logical  enough 


THE    SOUL   AND   A    FUTURE   STATE. 


119 


from  the  point  of  view  of  one  who  firmly  believed  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  But  the  question  must  naturally 
occur,  "  If  we  were  alive  before  we  were  born,  have  we 
any  consciousness  of  a  pre-natal  existence ;  and,  if  we 
have  no  recollection  of  being  alive  before  we  were  born 
what  reasonable  grounds  have  we  for  believing  that  we 
shall  continue  to  live  after  ?"  Relying  on  faith,  and  not 
on  reason,  the  theologian  replies  that  he  does  not  profess 
to  say  how  it  is  that  his  soul  will  exist  through  all  eternity  ; 
he  merely  believes  that  it  will  do  so,  because  he  thinks 
that  he  has  authority  in  "  God's  word  "  for  such  belief. 

During  the  present  century  many  scientific  men  have 
brought  their  practical  and  analytical  minds  to  bear 
upon  the  subject.  The  first  questions  such  men  asked 
were  :  If  man  has  a  soul,  what  is  it  ?  where  is  it  located  ? 
when  does  it  come  into  the  body  ?  After  a  careful  and 
elaborate  examination,  they  at  length  reached  the  con- 
clusion that,  if  man  possessed  a  soul,  it  could  |not  reside 
in  his  trunk  or  extremities,  but  must  be  in  some  way 
associated  with  the  brain.  Moreover,  they  discovered 
that  the  intelligence  of  an  individual  depended  very 
largely  upon  the  construction  of  the  brain,  its  weight, 
quality,  and  convolutions.  They  further  discovered  that 
the  races  highest  up  in  the  scale  of  civilisation  possessed 
the  largest  brains,  while  those  lowest  down  possessed  the 
smallest. 

Pritchard,  in  his  "Natural  History  of  Man,"  gives 
Camper's  description,  showing  the  ascending  scale  of 
human  skulls  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  races  of 
mankind.*  The  average  weight  of  the  male  human 
bram  is  forty-nine  and  a-half  ounces ;  the  average  of  the 
female  brain  forty-four  ounces ;  in  exceptional  men  the 
brain  has  often  been  found  to  weigh  between  fifty  and 


*  For  full  quotation,  see  my  pamphlet,  ''Man  and  the  Lower 
Animals,"  page  7. 


I20 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


THE   SOUL   AND   A    FUTURE   STATE. 


121 


sixty  ounces.  The  brains  of  idiots  are  abnormally  small, 
rarely  weighing  more  than  twenty-two  ounces,  and  some- 
times going  down  as  low  as  ten  ounces. 

Now,  if  the  soul  is  associated  with  the  intelligence  of 
man,  or,  in  other  words,  with  his  brain,  the  question 
naturally  arises.  Have  idiots  souls  ?  If  they  have,  will 
they  live  again  ?  and,  if  they  live  again,  will  they  be 
idiots  in  their  future  state  ?  because,  if  not,  it  will  not 
be  they  who  are  living  again,  but  some  other  individuals 
— they  will  have  lost  their  identity. 

Colonel  Olcott,  the  President  of  the  Theosophical 
Society,  holds  that  the  soul  of  an  idiot  is  perfectly 
rational,  only  it  has  had  the  misfortune  to  take  possession 
of  a  "rotten  tenement."  If  this  be  so,  it  is  a  great  pity 
that  such  an  unfortunate  soul  cannot  give  a  week's 
notice  and  quit.  According  to  Colonel  Olcott,  however, 
this  cannot  be  done.  The  poor  soul  is,  therefore, 
doomed  to  remain  till  the  rotten  tenement  decays,  and 
the  soul  may  then  take  possession  of  another  body. 

To  demonstrate  the  dependence  of  the  soul  upon  the 
brain.  Dr.  Louis  Biichner*  says  :  "  The  soul  of  the  child 
becomes  developed  in  the  same  degree  as  the  material 
organisation  of  its  brain  becomes  more  perfect.  The 
brain  substance  of  the  child  is  more  fluid  and  pultaceous, 
richer  in  water  and  poorer  in  fat,  than  that  of  the  adult. 
The  differences  between  the  grey  and  white  substance,  and 
other  microscopic  peculiarities,  become  only  gradually 
developed;  thus  the  so-called  fibration  of  the  brain, 
which  is  so  plainly  seen  in  the  adult,  is  not  easily  observ- 
able in  the  child.  The  more  marked  this  fibration  grows, 
the  more  manifest  becomes  mental  activity.  The  grey 
substance  on  the  surface  is  but  little  developed ;  the 
convolutions  are  sparing  and  little  vascular.  The  histo- 
logical development  of  many  parts  of  the  nervous  system 


I 


appear  very  imperfect  in  the  new  born "  (Valentin). 
"The  different  mental  faculties,"  says  Vogt,  "develop 
themselves  gradually  with  the  growth  of  the  hemispheres." 

The  brain  grows  with  the  growth  of  the  child,  and, 
from  all  the  evidence  accessible,  we  may  gather  that  it 
goes  on  growing  until  the  individual  reaches  middle 
age ;  then  it  appears  to  stop  for  awhile,  and  then 
gradually  decreases,  so  that,  in  old  age,  we  have  what  is 
called  "  second  childhood." 

Now,  if  the  soul  developes  with  the  brain,  and  cannot 
manifest  itself  without  the  aid  of  the  brain,  how  can  it  be 
supposed  that  the  soul  will  exist  apart  from  the  brain  in 
any  other  world  ?  Where  there  is  intelligence  there  must 
be  organisation  ;  for  intelligence  implies  brain,  brain 
implies  blood,  blood  implies  veins  and  arteries — that  is, 
organisation. 

To  further  demonstrate  the  inseparable  connection  of 
brain  and  soul,  let  us  consider  a  few  more  facts.  The 
brain  is  the  centre  of  all  feeling.  A  man  injures  his 
foot ;  but  it  is  the  brain  that  feels  the  injury,  and  com- 
municates the  fact  to  the  man.  The  nervous  system, 
radiating  from  the  brain,  puts  it  in  communication  with 
every  part  of  the  organism  ;  so  that  physical  effects  act 
perceptibly  upon  the  mind.  A  man  grows  pale  from 
fright,  blushes  from  shame,  and  the  eye  sparkles  with 
joy.  An  injury  to  the  head  will  sometimes  seriously 
affect  the  working  of  the  brain.  All  this,  however,  could 
not  happen  if  the  soul  was  independent  of  the  brain 
and  could  act  on  its  own  account.  Professor  Biichner* 
sums  up  the  subject  in  the  following  terms :  "  But 
enough  of  facts  ;  the  whole  science  of  man  is  continuous 
proof  in  favour  of  the  connection  of  brain  and  mind ; 
and  all  the  verbiage  of  philosophical  psychologists  in 
regard   to  the  separate   existence  of  the  soul  and  its 


"  Force  and  Matter.' 


*  "Force  and  Matter." 


122 


THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


independence  of  its  material  organ  is  without  the  least 
value  in  opposition  to  the  power  of  facts.  We  find  no 
exaggeration  in  what  Friedreich,  a  well-known  writer  on 
psychology,  says  on  this  point :  '  The  exhibition  of  power 
cannot  be  imagined  without  a  material  substratum.  The 
vital  power  of  man  can  manifest  its  activity  only  by 
means  of  its  material  organs.  In  proportion  as  the 
organs  are  manifold,  so  will  be  the  phenomena  of  vital 
power,  and  they  will  vary  according  to  the  varied  con- 
struction of  the  material  substratum.  Mental  function 
is,  hence,  a  peculiar  manifestation  of  vital  power,  deter- 
mined by  the  peculiar  construction  of  cerebral  matter. 
The  same  power  which  digests  by  means  of  the  stomach 
thinks  by  means  of  the  brain.'  " 

The  evolution  of  ideas  on  this  subject  leads  us,  there- 
fore, to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  soul  apart  from  the  brain.  If,  however,  man 
has  an  immortal  soul,  Freethought  will  not  kill  it ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  will  strengthen  it,  because  Freethought 
leads  to  doubt,  and  doubts  leads  to  investigation,  and 
nvestigation  to  truth,  and  truth  is  the  power  and  glory 
of  all  life,  mortal  or  immortal. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


HEAVEN  HEREAFTER. 


Heaven  and  Hell — Are  they  to  be  Literally  or  Figura- 
tively Understood  ? — Astronomers  have  Failed  to  Dis- 
cover Heaven — The  Service  of  Man — Abou  Ben  Adhem. 


In  the  New  Testament  there  are  several  passages  re- 
ferring to  a  heaven  wherein  it  is  declared  that  the 
''  chosen  "  people  of  God  will  pass  their  time  in  ever- 
lasting happiness  (Luke  xviii.  30).  Whether  this  is  a 
figurative  expression,  or  relates  to  a  place  which  has  a 
real  existence,  is  a  doubtful  point  among  Christians  of 
various  sects.  But  this,  at  least,  is  certain,  that,  if  the 
heaven  is  merely  figurative,  and  means  a  "  happy  state 
of  feeling,"  hell  must  be  figurative  also,  and  refer  to  the 
feeling  of  remorse  suffered  by  people  who  are  conscious 
of  the  wickedness  of  their  past  deeds.  Bible  texts  may 
be  quoted,  moreover,  which  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
Gospel  writers  conceived  heaven  and  hell  as  real  places 
of  abode  for  the  saved  or  the  damned  in  the  life  here- 
after. Jesus  certainly  described  hell  as  a  place  of 
physical  torment  (Matthew  xxv.  41),  and  not  a  mere 
*'  state  of  feeling,"  and  heaven  as  a  literal  and  material 
abode  of  bliss  rather  than  a  pleasant  condition  of  the 
mind  (Matthew  xix.  21). 

For  centuries  belief  in  the  real  existence  of  heaven 
and  hell  prevailed  among  Christians  ;  and  many  even 
to-day  would  throw  over  their  behef  in  the  Bible  alto- 
gether rather  than  yield  up  their  adherence  to  what  they 
regard  as  its  most  important  teachings.     Mr.  Spurgeon 


II 


124 


THE   BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 


Still  preaches  a  material  heaven  and  a  material  hell,  and 
threatens  the  unbeliever  with  the  horrors  of  brimstone. 
The  hell  of  Mr.  Spurgeon  or  General  Booth  is  too  gross 
and  vulgar  for  certain  refined  circles  of  Christians,  who 
have  tried  to  dissolve  the  barbarity  of  physical  torture 
into  mental  anguish  and  despair.  The  exchange  is  a 
doubtful  good  ;  for  the  endless  agony  of  an  unhappy 
mind  would  be  as  cruel  an  infliction  as  incessant  suffer- 
ing of  the  body.  Hence  it  is  that  humane  theologians 
have  invented  "  conditional  immortality,"  which  endows 
the  righteous  with  eternal  life,  and  submits  the  wicked 
to  a  merciful  process  of  extinction.  Another  suggestion 
(for  it  rests  on  no  proof),  which  was  hotly  debated  in  the 
Andover  controversy  in  America,  is  to  the  effect  that  all 
persons  who  die  without  an  adequate  notion  of  the 
Gospel  will  have  it  preached  to  ihem  after  death.  In 
that  case,  the  inscription  over  the  infernal  gate,  ''Abandon 
hope,  all  ye  who  enter  here,"  may  be  erased  in  favour  of 
the  motto,  "  It  is  never  too  late  to  mend." 

Assuming  for  the  moment  that  evidence  for  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  is  ovenvhelming,  what  evidence  is 
there  of  a  real  heaven  above  the  clouds,  or  of  a  hell 
below?  Where  is  heaven  located?  This  earth  is  an 
oblate  spheroid  in  shape,  and,  in  addition  to  revolving 
on  its  own  axis,  it  also  revolves  at  tremendous  speed 
round  the  sun.  Towards  which  point  of  the  compass, 
then,  shall  we  look  for  heaven  ?  In  any  given  direction 
we  behold  nothing  but  suns  and  stars,  and  many  of 
these  latter  are  millions  of  miles  away  from  this  earth. 
It  has  been  calculated  that  the  nearest  fixed  star  is 
twenty  millions  of  millions  of  miles  away  from  our  planet. 
Astronomers  have  swept  the  heavens  with  their  telescopes, 
and  have  failed  to  find  the  place  which  the  Christians 
delight  to  describe  as  the  celestial  home  of  all  believers. 
The  "mansions  in  the  sky"  appear  as  mythical  as 
"  castles  in  the  air." 


HEAVEN    HEREAFTER. 


125 


The  Christians  themselves  can  tell  us  nothmg  definite 
about  the  New  Jerusalem.  They  can  neither  fix  its 
position  on  the  map  of  the  skies,  nor  inform  us  what  is  its 
climate,  or  what  language  the  "  angels  "  speak.  All  they 
know  about  it  is  summed  up  in  the  declaration  that  it 
is  somewhere  up  "  above  the  clouds ;"  that  it  is  a 
monarchical  country,  and  God  is  self-appointed  king. 
The  Christian  poet  dreams  that — 

"  There  is  a  happy  land,  far,  far  away, 
Where  saints  in  glory  stand,  bright,  bright  as  day. 
Oh  how  they  sweetly  sing,  glory  to  their  heavenly  king ; 
Loud  let  his  praises  ring,  praise,  praise  for  aye." 

And  the  Christian  public,  without  a  titde  of  evidence 
concerning  its  reality,  believes  it.  The  fact  is,  it  is  a 
pleasant  belief;  and  a  pleasant  fiction  is  more  palatable 
to  a  low  order  of  mind  than  stern  reality.  For  my  part, 
I  do  not  deny  the  Christian  heaven ;  I  merely  say  that 
I  am  without  evidence  of  its  existence.  But  I  do  say 
that,  if  there  be  a  heaven  above  the  clouds,  and  all  men 
possess  immortal  souls,  then,  in  my  judgment,  the 
persons  who  will  most  deserve  to  live  on  through  eternity 
in  perpetual  happiness  will  be  those  who  have  done  the 
best  service  for  mankind.  With  Edward  Clodd,*  I 
maintain  :  "  There  is  but  one  life,  if  life  it  may  be  called, 
which  seems  to  me  to  be  God-forsaken  ;  it  is  the  life  that 
is  idle  and  selfish.  Those  few  words  express  more  than 
one  might  think  ;  but  their  meaning  has  been  set  to 
sweeter  music  than  I  can  command  by  Leigh  Hunt,  in 
the  story  of  Abou  Ben  Adhem  : — 

"  Abou  Ben  Adhem  (may  his  tribe  increase) 
Awoke  one  night  from  a  deep  dream  of  peace, 
And  saw  within  the  moonlight  in  his  room, 
Making  it  rich  and  like  a  lily  in  bloom, 
An  angel  writing  in  a  book  of  gold  ; 

♦  "  The  Childhood  of  Religions,"  p.  153. 


126  THE    BIBLE   AND    EVOLUTION. 

Exceeding  peace  had  made  Ben  Adhem  bold, 
And  to  the  vision  in  the  room  he  said, 

*  What  writest  thou  ?'  The  vision  raised  its  head, 
And,  with  a  look  made  of  all  sweet  accord, 
Replied,  *  The  names  of  those  who  love  the  Lord.' 

*  And  is  mine  one  ?'  said  Abou.    *  Nay,  not  so,' 
Replied  the  angel.     Abou  spoke  more  low. 
But  cheerily  still,  and  said,  *  I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  that  loves  his  fellow  men. ' 

**  The  angel  wrote  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
He  came  again  with  a  great  wakening  light. 
And  showed  the  names  whom  love  of  God  had  blest, 
And,  lo  !  Ben  Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest." 


i ! 


i 


CHAPTER    XV. 


CONCLUSION. 


I    HAVE    now    come    to    the    end    of    my    task.     My 
endeavour  has  been  to  point  out  how  all  things  in  the 
world — indeed,  how  all  things  in  the  universe,  to  which 
we  can  set  no  limit — are  constantly  undergoing  change, 
in  the  mental  world  as  well  as  the  physical.     I  have 
further  sought  to   demonstrate   that   the   ideas   of  the 
Bible  writers    are  only  incomplete   intellectual  phases, 
exemplifying    the    great    law    of    evolution.      I    have 
shown  that  the  Bible  writers  were  ignorant  upon  many 
matters  upon  which  we  have  now  something  approaching 
definite  knowledge ;  that  the  Bible  cosmogony,  its  geo- 
logy, and  biology  are  quite  valueless   in  view  of  our 
modern  knowledge  on  these  subjects ;  that  an  impartial 
investigation  of  geology  and  palaeontology  reveal  to  us 
unmistakable  evidence  of  the  vast  age  of  the  earth  and 
the  great  antiquity  of  the   human  race — an  antiquity 
beside  which  the  few  thousand  years  claimed  by  the 
Bible   writers    sink  into   utter   insignificance.     I    have 
carried   my   investigations    further,    and    unveiled    the 
mystery  of  the  Bible  myths,  and  impeached  the  supposed 
historical  value    of  the    sacred   bock.     I    have  shown 
that  the  Bible  in  some  parts  teaches  a  very  low  form  of 
morality,  but  that  its  ethical  principles  manifest  improve- 
ment in  the  later  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  reach 
their  highest  degree  of  development  in  the  best  portions 
of  the  New  Testament.     I   have  further  attempted  to 
show  that  moral  principles  have  undergone  many  changes 
for  the  better  since  the  days  of  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth. 


128 


THE   BIBLE   AND   EVOLUTION. 


Bible  miracles  I  have  demonstrated  to  be  of  no  more 
value  than  Pagan  ones ;  and  I  have  sought  to  show 
that  belief  in  miracles  in  past  ages  resulted  from  the 
ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  masses  who  believed  in 
them,  and  that,  as  the  people  become  more  intelligent 
and  their  knowledge  increases,  their  belief  in  super- 
natural interference  with  the  laws  of  nature  gradually 
diminishes  to  the  vanishing  point.  Bible  poetry  and 
Bible  art  I  have  shown  to  be  inferior  to  the  highest 
poetry  and  art  from  profane  sources.  I  have  then 
endeavoured  to  describe  the  evolution  of  the  God  idea 
and  the  various  transitions  of  belief  in  regard  to  the 
problem  of  the  soul  and  a  future  state.  These  subjects 
I  have  touched  upon  with  a  free  hand,  always  calling 
to  my  assistance  the  views  of  writers  whom  I  regard 
as  authorities  upon  such  matters.  My  aim  has  been  to 
present  matter  for  reflection,  and  to  point  out  the  drift 
of  modern  thought. 

Some  of  my  opinions  may  be  incorrect.  I  do 
not  claim  infallibility.  I  am  open  to  criticism  and 
correction.  I  merely  give  my  opinions  for  what  they 
are  worth,  with  the  one  single  desire  of  promoting  thought 
on  problems  of  absorbing  interest,  upon  a  rational 
solution  of  which  depend  the  happiness  and  progress  of 
mankind. 


THE  END. 


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